The Wandering Path of a Battlemage
by mc.zero
Summary: AU-OC. Harry is a Metamorphmagus bound for greatness who will garner the most uncommon allies in a journey of hardships, training and evolution before he is even ready to face some bad-ass DE and a frightening Voldemort. Upgraded!DarkSide, Ravenclaw!Grey!Harry, pairing TBD. Rated M for language, violence, sexuality and more.
1. 001 Intro

**Ladies and gentlemen**

 **Welcome to the disclaimer**

 **That's right the disclaimer**

 **This American apple pie institution**

 **Known as parental discretion**

 **Will cleanse any sense of innuendo or sarcasm**

 **From the scenes that might actually make you think**

 **And will also insult your intelligence at the same time**

 **So protect your family.**

 **This fic contains explicit depictions**

 **Of things which are real.**

 **These real things are commonly known as life.**

 **So, if it sounds sarcastic, don't take it seriously.**

 **If it sounds dangerous,**

 **Do not try this at home or at all.**

 **And if it offends you, just don't read it.**

 **(Adaptation of the song Disclaimer, which completely belongs to The Offspring or whoever really owns it. Authors: Dexter Holland / Greg Kriesel / Kevin Wasserman / Ron Welty. Disclaimer © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Round Hill Music Big Loud Songs)**

 **DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and it's universe belongs to JK Rowling or whichever company really has it's legal rights. I just fool around with it's universe and characters.**

 **CONTENT WARNING: This fic is bound to have mature content, not restricted to gore, violence, insults/language, innuendo/sex depictions and other sensitive stuff yet to be decided/determined/described. If you don't like it, don't agree with it or your parents won't allow you to read it, I invite you to scroll up and re-read the** _ **lyrics**_ **until you get the idea of what to do next.**

 **PLOT WARNING: This fic will definitely be AU-OC, with minor introductions of foreign ideas/characters to Harry Potter's universe, originated from other fictional worlds yet to be disclosed.**

 **GENRE: New Adult**

 **PLOT: AU-OC. Harry is a Metamorphmagus bound for greatness who will garner the most uncommon allies in a journey of hardships, training and evolution before he is even ready to face some bad-ass Death Eaters and a frightening Voldemort. Ravenclaw!Harry, Grey!Harry, pairing TBD (Tonks/Hermione/Luna are the most likely candidates)**

 **WORLD WARNING: Let me make this clear…**

 **# Hogwarts begins at the age of 15 and I have moved the timeline for that to happen in 2005.**

 **# Expect new elements and some rules to be altered/introduced.**

 **AUTHOR WARNING: I'm open for suggestions, corrections or any subject you may want to politely discuss with me. But if you don't like it just because you don't share my own view of things and you just want me to change things simply because of that… fuck off.**

 **A/N 00: I have the layout of things up to the seventh book, and a possible spin-off in the backburner. It feels like it will be the work of a lifetime, but I'm pretty confident I'll be able to carry it out much sooner than that as I've already written 40k words for it's initial seven chapters within the first three weeks of picking up the idea.**

 **MC Zero**

* * *

 **The wandering path of a Battlemage**

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 **CHAPTER 001**

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 **Little Whinging, 1999**

It was a chilly autumn morning in Little Whinging Elementary School, foreboding a cold winter. Children played on the schoolyard. Some were playing football, others chased each other around playing tag and only a few sat on the sun against the walls playing cards. Watching from aside amongst the shadows of the trees, there was a boy who wouldn't join the others.

He couldn't join those playing football, because his fat cousin and friends would disdain him and might even kick him off the field. The kids playing tag would never let him join, either because he was made to be the pariah of the school or out of fear to draw unwanted attention from Dudley's gang. The only group he could actually join for sure, was that of those playing cards under the sun. But what was the point of it? They were all playing a game called Magic: The Gathering, which required to your own deck. All he had was an old deck of poker cards with dull edges, most were bent and marked, worn out and ready to trash. This is actually from where he had salvaged them from.

His life was miserable. Harry's adoptive family, the Dursleys', made sure of that on a daily basis. His life at home consisted of two things mainly: chores and solitude. He has been forced to sweep, clean and do the dishes since he had any recollection of a memory. This late summer they had finally "taught" him to cook for the family and care for the garden. The rest of the day, if they so much heard a squeak from the floorboards under his feet, he would be dragged out and locked up in his room until the next task was available. "Room" what a wistful choice of words, that cupboard under the stairs with his old mattress could be anything but a room. As if it wasn't enough, his cousin, Dudley, and his friends were certain to ensure that his life would remain hopeless even at school.

'If only I could own a deck!' -Harry thought to himself- 'but they would never give me enough money to get one… or allow me to keep it if I ever did. All they'll ever let me have will be their gigantic worn clothes, their leftovers and whatever I can find in the trash or the dirt' -Harry kicked a lump of grass- 'Like this… _Quartz..._ Yeah, like this quartz.'

Harry picked up the chipped lump of quartz and looked at it. It's light was a dull white but Harry found something mesmerizing about its center. There seemed to be some kind of energy trapped within and he found it to be the most intriguing thing he had ever seen. "Teacher said that sand was made of quartz and other smaller things. But this can't be it, it's too beautiful..." -Harry whispered to himself- ' _Magic…_ ' -He heard an echo amongst his thoughts.

Feeling like a puppet, he drew the poker deck from his pocket and held it tight against the quartz in his other hand. Harry closed his eyes and pictured in his mind a starter deck of Magic: The Gathering cards. He felt a rush of heat, of energy surging from his chest to his arms, then into his hands. Once it stopped he felt drained, but the feeling was quickly overcome upon inspecting his deck of cards. He still held his old deck of poker cards, but there was something different to them now. They were still worn, but they now had a new reflection on top of each of the cards. It was like having them underwater and having a second reflection on top of them on the surface of the water. A perfect reflection it was, of a deck of Magic cards, but he could still see through it. A part of him knew that this was just a trick, an illusion, but another part of him also knew that he could fool them with it, be able to join and use them against the other kids.

Entranced by the new possibility, he let go of the chipped lump of quartz and started walking towards the other kids. But no sooner had the quartz touched the ground that the reflection on the cards faded. Harry began to panic. He had finally found a way to join others and it was already gone. He pressed his hand hard against the deck, but nothing happened... His eyes! He closed his eyes and tried again, picturing in his mind the starter deck of Magic cards. But once more it was for naught. 'Was it my imagination?' -Harry thought desperately- 'Was it just an illusion? My mind playing tricks on me? Am I going insane already?!' He took a step back hyperventilating… And he felt it. Under his foot he found the chipped lump of quartz and quickly picked it up again. He stared at the crystal and spot that glimpse of energy within, remembering how he had pressed the deck of cards against the chipped quartz. He closed his eyes once more, picturing the starter deck of Magic on his mind and pressed the chipped quartz against the deck of cards. And he felt it. That rush of energy coursed through his anew.

He didn't know what was happening and still had doubts whether it was real, but he now had an idea of the how. He dropped the quartz to the ground and stared at his deck of cards. As soon as the quartz touched the ground, the deck shimmered back to its former self, losing the reflection upon it. He picked the quartz again and the deck remained unchanged. He closed his eyes, imagined what the starter deck of Magic and touched the poker deck with the quartz. He felt the energy flow once more. Feeling lightheaded he took a small step forward to stabilize himself and prevent from falling.

'So the rules are simple… I need the quartz for it to happen. I need to keep it with me or the reflection will fade. And whatever is going on, it is draining me' -Harry thought to himself- 'All there is left to do now, is to see whether the other kids can see it too.'

Harry collected his breath and began nervously walking towards the other kids playing cards. There were five of them at the moment, which was perfect for him as he would be able to try his luck right away, before he had any time for second thoughts and chicken out. "Hey… Umm… Can I play with you guys? I've got my own deck, see?" He blurted out feeling quite nervous, while showing them the poker deck with one hand while holding tight to the quartz on his other.

The five kids turned their heads and stared at him. The outcast of the school had approached them. The scrawny kid with shaggy hair covering that weird-ass lightning bolt scar over his left eye. Wearing his oversized old clothes that everyone knew had once being Dudley's. But today they found something different in him. His eyes felt different. It wasn't his old glasses, as they were still broken and held together with tape. But his eyes themselves… They were still that radiant emerald green colour, but today his left eye showed an outer ring on his iris that shone red as an ember.

They found that kind of unsettling. But they were an odd number, and with him no one would have to sit out any matches during the recess waiting to rotate and duel each other. Besides, his deck looked decent enough. A bit worse for wear, but it would work. As for his cousin… Dudley's gang already picked on them for being the geeks of the class, so having him along couldn't harm their popularity any worse, right?

Harry was ecstatic. Not only were they the first of his classmates to welcome him since his first week of school back when he was six, but the illusion on his deck of cards was proving to be real! He didn't know what or why it was happening, but that chipped lump of quartz had allowed him to join others in a game and that was all that mattered to him.

From then on, Harry joined Brian, Stewie, Nick, Tom and Jerry for the rest of the week to play Magic on every recess. He was finally making ways towards his very own first group of friends, until Friday came around.

Dudley had at last got wind that Harry wasn't a loner anymore. That he wasn't skulking about his freakishness, as Vernon would say, alone in the corner as he should be. And that wouldn't with any of the Dursley's, so Dudley felt compelled to intervene. Dudley and his gang rounded up the group of geeks on the Friday's last recess, shoving them around and demanding to know why they would be around Harry the Freak.

Upon hearing that Harry was joining them for matches of Magic, Dudley's violence gave way to his greed and jealousy. "WHAT?! He cannot have those! He probably stole Dad some money to buy them!" -Dudley raged- "Come here you freak and give 'em to me!" Dudley pulled Harry from his collar and checked his pockets for the deck of cards. Once he found them, he took them and shoved Harry to the ground, but once he inspected the deck he found that it was the same old deck of pocket cards he knew he had long ago recovered from the trash. He was furious now, demanding him to hand them over to no avail. He finally got tired of it and decided on beat him up while his gang kept the others away, not that they would be of any help. After few kicks on the ground to his stomach and ribs, Dudley got winded, threw the deck on his face and left along his friends having a good laugh. He would surely take his Magic deck of cards from him back at home, or even better, rat him out to his parents that he had been stealing money from them to buy the cards.

Harry's friends approached him and asked whether he was alright. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry, sometimes I get it worst." -answered Harry- "Are you guys ok?"

"Yeah, we are fine. They shoved us against the wall or pinned us to the ground, but only to hold us down" said Jerry.

"But what about your deck of Magic?" -asked Brian- "Why did he pull out that deck of poker from you?"

"Oh, that..." -Harry panicked.

' _Lie… Hide…'_ -Harry heard from an echo within his mind.

"I had a feeling something was coming up, as Dudley kept staring at me during class."-Harry lied- "So I left them on my bag inside the classroom. There is no way I can get another deck if he takes it from me". Harry picked up his deck of cards and put them in his pockets. Discreetly making sure that he still had his quartz, he let go a sigh of relief.

"So why didn't you tell us!? We could have stayed close to a teacher!" -Stewie began to rant.

"Yes, and they would have waited for us after school, when there would be no one to stop them if things got too rough" - Harry replied- "I know. I'm sorry, I'll give you a heads up the next time"

"Our mums and dads would have stopped them, you know" -Stewie argued back- "And why did he call you a freak?"

The five of them stared at Harry with wary eyes, and just like that he knew it. They were assessing the risk of keeping him as part of the group. Judging him, deeming his worth. He could play it smooth, but it would barely take them a week to realize of that. Now that Dudley knew he had something to lose, he and his friends will double up their efforts to hunt him down. He could only hope to come clean with whatever they wanted to know and hope they wouldn't banish him, even if it were only so they wouldn't be an odd number again to play.

"I… I don't really know…" -Harry began- "They told me all my life that I'm a freak like my parents, but won't say why. And whenever I dare to ask they'll glimpse at my scar before sending me off or sometimes beating me down"

"So Dudley and his gang will keep on picking on you? Because of your scar?" - Nick inquired.

"Yeah… Probably" - Harry said as the bell rang, announcing it was time to get back to class.

The last period went as expected, with everyone eager to head back home. Everyone except Harry, who spent it bracing himself for an infernal weekend.

When Monday came around, Harry found that they wouldn't outright banish him. He would be allowed to join them for matches of Magic cards. But he would never be one of them; they would keep stealing a glance at his scar and never mention anything about it. They would scram whenever Dudley showed up and would never consider taking his side.

* * *

 **Nro 4 Privet Drive, 2005**

Six years had gone by. He was still part of their group. He would still join them to play Magic: The Gathering cards during recess. About the age of 11, they had also started to gather at the local library to play Dungeons and Dragons.

He was part of the geek squad, but remained being the third wheel. They would never back him up against Dudley's gang or any other hardship. They were not his friends, of that he was certain.

Nonetheless, it hadn't been all that bad. He had eventually found a flawed quartz, which seemed to improve his ability to hide or change things through illusions. He now kept it with him at all times, hanging as a necklace under his clothes.

Harry had found that he could now hide his scar whenever he wished so. He had started trying after Dudley had gone overboard with the beating, and his geek squad wouldn't back him up anyway. They were always stealing glimpses at his scar, so he supposed that if he could get rid of it, or at least disguise it; that could change. That turned out to be wishful thinking. They watched him with skepticism at first due to the lack of scar, but he kept the ruse and they eventually relented. Though it didn't improve matters at all. Actually, it had backfired somewhat on him, as he had received the whipping of a lifetime a couple of days later when the Dursleys had finally taken notice of the change. They had been determined to beat the freakishness out of him as they had called it. He had learned that way that whatever he was accomplishing with his quartz, he should keep it hidden from his relatives for his own safety. Not that it would guard him from their hatred, but at least it wouldn't incite them.

So there he was, his fifteenth birthday had finally arrived and yet there was no one who would willingly visit him in order to wish him a happy birthday. He was stuck on his Sunday routine, preparing an oversized breakfast for his obese relatives, hoping it would be enough to choke them to death. Or at least to have enough leftovers for himself. There was a silver lining though, it was Sunday so that meant they would soon after depart for church and he would be alone in the house for a couple of hours at least. It definitely was one of the best birthday gifts he could ever receive. As for the afternoon, he would have to try to sneak out of the house and hope for a quiet day, clear of any Harry-hunting as Dudley liked to call it.

An hour later, the Dursleys were eventually gone. He had actually managed to overstuff them enough to secure a couple of toasts, some scraps of bacon and half an egg for himself. It was definitely worth all the extra cooking he had had to achieve. He just had to brew some tea for himself, from Petunia's "secret" stash for sure, and he would be able to enjoy the best part of his birthday.

Harry was about to dig in when he heard a flutter of… wings? He looked out the kitchen's window and there it was, a brownish owl staring directly at him. He found it peculiar, as it wasn't common to find them in the area, but decided to ignore the bird and enjoy his breakfast.

No sooner had he taken his first bite that the owl began pecking at the window. The owl seemed determined to gain his attention. Halfway through his breakfast, Harry went for the window determined to shoo the bird away, which apparently had other plans in mind.

As soon as he had opened the window, the owl took flight and landed on the kitchen's island, hooting impatiently. The owl started ruffling through his feathers and pulled out a… letter? "Ok, this is definitely getting weird" -said Harry.

The owl hooted indignantly and puffed his feathers, as it dropped the letter in front of him while watching him with narrowed eyes. It immediately turned around, stole all the bacon he had left and hurried out the window.

"Hey! That's… my breakfast…" -Harry complained disheartedly- "Bloody hell… what is the matter with all this mumbo jumbo? Did an owl just deliver me a letter?"

Harry took the letter and stared at it. Things were getting weirder by the minute. Not only had an owl delivered a letter and ran away with half of his breakfast, but said letter was actually addressed to him. And he never ever received anything, other than a beating. He turned it around and saw it was sealed with red wax, which had an H imprinted on it.

He opened the envelope and took the letter. It wasn't regular paper, it definitely felt stranger and older, as if it were some sort of parchment. He ignored the fact and read it.

###############

 _ **HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**_

 _ **Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore**_

 _ **(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,**_

 _ **Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**_

 _ **Dear Mr Potter,**_

 _ **We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**_

 _ **Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.**_

 _ **Yours sincerely,**_

 _ **Minerva McGonagall**_

 _ **Deputy Headmistress**_

################

"Bloody hell… Witchcraft and Wizardry?" -Harry mumbled to himself- "And why am I so calm about it? Well… yeah… my life has been wacky all along and this would certainly explain it…" -He read through the list of required things and exclaimed- "Where on earth am I supposed to get a cauldron, a wand and a pair of fucking dragon hide gloves?!"

"Never mind that! How the hell am I going to afford it? There's no way I'm ever gonna convince either the walrus or Petunia to pay for it." -Harry thought out loud- "I'll have to sort it out by myself and trick them into accepting my departure no matter what. This a way out of this hell hole and there is no way I'm passing it up."

"We await your owl by no later than 31 July…" -He read the letter to himself- "Fan-freaking-tastic… They want their reply today! And by owl no less!"

Harry gathered his thoughts for a moment. There was no way he wouldn't fight for this chance, so he had to find a way. After a couple of minutes he decided to write a reply and hopefully a solution would present itself, or he would sort it out in the afternoon.

He drafted a quick reply accepting the offer and asked for further information about where he could acquire the necessary gear. He lastly required that any further contact to be constricted to Sunday mornings. Hopefully that wouldn't raise too many red flags.

No sooner had he sealed the letter in the envelope he had received, that he heard a tap on the window. That sneaky owl who had stolen his breakfast was back. Opening the window, he handed the envelope to the owl, who took it in his beak and hid it in between his feathers before taking off.

It was amazing, because he couldn't see any proof that the owl was actually carrying his letter. Maybe all this wizarding stuff could actually turn out to be true. And if it was, he would get out from this prison at last.

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 **A/N 01: I hope you liked it.**


	2. 002 Wand

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and it's universe belongs to JK Rowling or whichever company really has it's legal rights. I just fool around with it's universe and characters.**

 **A/N FAQ: For all those wondering "why not all 3 pairings?". I never meant that wasn't a possibility. To be honest, I haven't ruled out other possible pairings yet. All I mean is that Hermione, Tonks and Luna are the most likely candidates to end up in a love relationship with Harry. If turns out to be a harem or not, it will depend on how they evolve within my head (and therefore within the story) as I continue writing. I don't want to set anything in stone this early as it will be a long journey and I can't tell for sure how everything will turn out to be. (P.S.: Don't think I got angry at those who did ask about it. I just thought I'd run those kinds of reviews as FAQs in the next chapter)**

 _ **I wanna thank my awesome brother for acting as my Alpha**_

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 **The wandering path of a Battlemage**

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 **CHAPTER 002**

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Three Sundays had gone by, and there had been no news from that wretched Hogwarts School. If they didn't show up today, he would have to give up any kind of hope, as classes were supposed to begin next Thursday.

Harry prepared breakfast for the Dursleys as any other Sunday and waited with baited breath for them to leave for church. Once they were gone, he began his own breakfast. He was halfway through it when he heard a tap on the kitchen's window.

"Oh bloody hell! Damn owls can't let me…" -Harry trailed off as he watched out the window. This time there was no owl as he had expected. Instead there was an older woman with stern eyes doing her best to hide the amusement from her face while watching him.

How she had arrived at the back garden instead of the front door he couldn't imagine. But he approached the back door nonetheless and welcomed her in.

"Thank you Mr. Potter. I am Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and professor of Hogwarts. I came here today in order to answer any questions you and your family may have as well as to escort you to Diagon Alley so that you may buy all the necessary equipment for the school year. Now, where is the rest of your family?"

"Umm… They have gone to church and won't be back for a while. So maybe we could go shopping for my stuff in the meantime?" -Harry nervously inquired. He wasn't overly confident that he would pull today off, she seemed to be a no nonsense kind of woman. And she wore those strange clothes… robes maybe? They were a rich burgundy colour.

*****************(Minerva)******************

Minerva found it all to be quite strange. Harry looked a lot scrawnier than James had ever been, shorter as well if her memory recalled properly. The scar seemed to be gone despite Albus' prediction. And his clothes seemed a lot worse for wear, aside from being clearly oversized.

Not only that, but neither of his aunt and uncle were present nor did he seem eager to witness any demonstration of magic. Granted, he was a wizard, but she had been fairly certain that this family wouldn't entertain the slightest idea of magic, back in the day when she had joined Albus and Hagrid to leave Harry in the Dursleys care. One could say that her feline instincts smelled something fishy, but perish the thought.

******************(Harry)*******************

After a few moments of further consideration, Minerva relented. "Alright Mr. Potter, we shall head to the alley and leave the meeting with your family for later. Do you mind if I call you Harry?"

"Of course not, professor. Should I change my clothes or bring anything for the trip?" -Harry replied feeling slightly relaxed now that he had managed to advance with his plan.

"Please, call me Minerva while we are off the school grounds. And you don't need to do anything. If you allow me instead, I could actually transfigurate your clothes in order to blend in amongst the crowd. It will be less likely that they recognize you that way"

'Recognize me? What could she mean?' -He wondered to himself- "Sure, go ahead Minerva" -he finally replied, eager to get going.

And so, with a swish of a stick which she pulled out from her robes, she changed Harry's old and baggy clothes into a set of plain black robes which fitted him perfectly. He was amazed to actually have sleeves fitting for his size.

"Wow! That's awesome!" -Harry exclaimed- "So, how do we get there?"

Minerva chuckled as she said- "Just hold on tight to my hand. And all you need to do is be willing to follow me."

Harry took the offered hand and before he had time to question anything else, he felt a pull from his navel and felt himself being squeezed through reality itself. A couple of seconds later the nauseating sensation was gone and he felt solid ground under his feet. He fell to his knees on hard stone, still clutched to Minerva's hand for dear life. He dry heaved a couple of times before he was able to compose himself and stand back up.

"What the hell was that?!" -Harry demanded.

"Behave yourself Mr. Potter. That was one of the many means of magical transportation, called Apparition. It allows the caster an almost instantaneous travel from one place to the chosen destination, and you simply side along apparated with me."

"Sorry professor"

"It's alright Harry. And please, it's Minerva"

"Alright Minerva. By the way, where are we now? And where are we going?"

"We are in London and we have arrived at Diagon Alley already, this is one of its apparition points. We should go to Gringotts first so we can sort out your galleons first."

"Gringotts? Galleons? What are those Minerva?" -Harry inquired.

"Oh, right, let me give you a quick rundown. Gringotts is the wizarding bank as well as the kingdom of the Goblin nation. As for galleons, it is our currency of highest value." -Minerva explained- "Present currency stands as 20 sickle to a galleon and 50 knuts to a sickle"

She started walking towards the alley as Harry took notice of his surroundings. They had apparated into a circular stone slab, surrounded by four columns etched with some sort of runes. There were two more apparition points to the left and three more across the alley.

Harry stepped down the apparition point and quickly caught up with Minerva before he could lose sight of her. As he followed her, he paid closer attention to the alley and its occupants.

The alley was bursting with cheerful shoppers and the day was bright and sunny, quite a rare occurrence considering they were in London. The shops at either side of the alley were rather old red brick buildings, slightly leaning towards the street. Nonetheless, every shop display was bursting with life and all kinds of wondrous things. Some shops were filled with cauldrons and pots; others were stocked with different kind of herbs and plants; there were some that had many different owls and other domestic animals on display; they came across an ice cream parlor that he would definitely like to visit later; one shop had brooms on display, which if he had to guess were designed for flying; they came across a bookstore where he would swear he saw the pictures on the books moving; multiple clothing shops showed a variety of robes and a few normal outfits, though only Madam Malkin's shop displayed sensible casual clothing.

They finally arrived to the end of the street and stood in front of a gigantic white marble building that reminded him of the Forum of Augustus he had seen at school. Its front was dominated by wide stairs that led into enormous columns holding the roof where " _Gringotts Bank_ " was etched into the stone. On top of the main entrance made of polished bronze doors, was etched what could only be the bank's motto " _Fortius Quo Fidelius_ ". This leads to a small entrance hall and another set of doors. Engraved on these second set of silver doors were the words:

 _Enter, stranger, but take heed_

 _Of what awaits the sin of greed_

 _For those who take, but do not earn,_

 _Must pay most dearly in their turn._

 _So if you seek beneath our floors_

 _A treasure that was never yours,_

 _Thief, you have been warned, beware_

 _Of finding more than treasure there._

Both set of doors were flanked by a pair of what could only be described as massive goblins. The four of them carried what could only be described as full battle armor made of a polished gold with red details. Each of them carried a mace, an axe, a spear or a long sword at the ready, watching closely everyone brave enough to step through their doors.

Once inside, Harry found himself inside of a cathedral like hall, with raised counters at either side filled with hundreds of goblins working relentlessly. Just then did he remember an itsy bitsy problem.

"Umm… Minerva? Is there a way I can access a loan or a scholarship?" -Harry asked nervously- "Because I don't know how willing my relatives will be of providing for everything I need on top of the school fee" 'Not that they had actually agreed to the school at all anyway' -he finished in his thoughts.

"What? Oh nonsense Harry" -Minerva replied with a chuckle- "Your parents paid for your school tuition as soon as you were born. And I was lead to believe that they also left a considerable trust fund for you until you become of age"

"What? My parents?" -He asked perplexed- "As in both?"

"Yes…" -Minerva answered with suspicion- 'There is something definitely fishy going in that house, but this was neither the time nor the place to ask about it' - "Come on, we can discuss this later along something for lunch. Remain polite but straightforward when dealing with goblins, they despise people who look at them as inferior or that waste their time and gold in equal measure"

It turned out that the Potter family was actually loaded. Even if he wouldn't be able to access to the main account until he became of age at the age of 18, he still had a trust fund of 1500 galleons, which would replenish every summer solstice from the main account. After some hard negotiation with Minerva, she allowed him to withdraw the whole 1500 galleons. His winning argument had been that he would be joining the wizarding world from scratch and he would have to buy all of the basic stuff aside from those things required by the school. Once outside the bank, carrying four heavy bags of gold in each of his pockets, they headed to their first stop: Ollivander's Wand Shop.

The shop they arrived to was narrow and looked really dilapidated. The shop window had a single item in display, a rather refined wand resting on a purple cushion with golden thread embroidery; though all of it was covered by a thick layer of dust. On top of the window one could see faded golden letters, which probably used to be the name of Ollivander's Wand Shop.

Once inside, one would find the same shabby look as the front of the shop. There was no other furniture than a single spindly chair in the corner, the shop's counter and, behind it, endless rows of shelves going up and to the back of the store until one would lose sight of them, all filled to the brim with slender wand boxes.

"Ahh, Mr. Potter. I was expecting the day you would come to my shop" -A raspy old voice said from behind Harry, startling him out of his bones- "And Minerva, a pleasure as always. Allow me to introduce myself; I'm Garrick Ollivander owner and master wand maker of the shop"

He was frail old man, his hair completely silver of age. But his eyes made it clear as day that he remained sharp of mind and wit.

Harry shook the man's offered hand. "I was looking f-"

"Yes, a wand dear child. Let me help you" -Ollivander quickly interrupted- "Wait right here, as I get a few for you to try"

Moments later he returned with a box in his hand while another thirty trailed floating behind him. He set them all on the counter except for the one he carried himself, which he opened directly for Harry to try.

"The old goat has been insisting for ages that this shall be your wand." -Ollivander said while Minerva snorted and began to chuckle sitting by the chair- "Its eleven inches, made of Holly wood and with a phoenix feather core. Go on, pick it up and give it a shake."

Harry did as he was instructed, producing a couple of green sparks. Minerva seemed surprised for some reason, but Ollivander seemed doubtful about the outcome.

"Curious… very curious…" -Ollivander pondered to himself- "But not good enough. Give it back and let's try some others."

They kept trying for over an hour, each time to various disappointing results and with wands increasing in their oddity of design as well as combinations.

"I have only a few left which I would like you to try. These seven over here are unique among the uniques of my collection" -Ollivander said bringing in the oldest of the boxes that he had yet to be seen- "If they don't work, I'm afraid Holly and phoenix will have to do and I'll owe a hefty amount of galleons to that old goat. Now, pick whichever box you may fancy"

Intrigued by the new method, he looked at the seven boxes and decided to go for the one with a faded blue with green stripes colour. He opened the box and found a simple smooth wand that seemed to be made of two different shades of dark wood intertwined together in a spiral.

"Ahh, a most intriguing choice young Potter. It was an accidental experiment of mine shall I say. Go on; try it, if you dare"

Not paying attention to his remark, Harry took the wand and gave it a flick. A spark of electricity jumped from its tip as well as light wind coiled around him. It definitely felt strange, like two brutal forces of nature colliding within himself. But instead of fear or wariness to the sensation, he felt comfortable with, maybe even warm.

"Aaahhh! Excellent! Marvelous! I knew we could find you a better match!" -Ollivander exclaimed- "Eleven inches, Blackthorn intertwined with Ebony. Dual core as well, a Horned Serpent Horn that somehow got enveloped with a Thunderbird Tail Feather. It wasn't supposed to happen but it did nonetheless, and in this craft one learns to listen to the magic instead of trying to bend it to our will. If the materials are of any clue, your life is doomed to be most amusing as well as intriguing, many secrets await for you to unveil. Although it may prove to be a little feisty for you, until you gain it's loyalty"

Harry didn't appreciate the final comments at all. But he wouldn't back down, 'cause he felt like it was the one meant for him.

"Now, you should get a holster for such a fine wand. A regular one would be for the hip, but as it is a wand definitely meant for a warrior you should be a lot better with a wrist holster. What would you fancy? Cloth, silk, acromantula-silk, hippogriff-hide or dragon-hide?"

"Damn, I'll definitely take the dragon hide holster" -Harry replied eagerly- 'who wouldn't want a dragon armor after all?' -he added in his mind.

Soon after, Ollivander returned with the dragon hide wrist holster and another box. After some fitting and adjustments, he instructed Harry how to store it and how to later release his wand with a flick of his wrist. "Now, this is a set of wand polish which I'm sure you would like to buy in order to take care of such a magnificent work of art" -Ollivander explained with a rather severe stress on the caring part, to which Harry swiftly agreed- "So the cost would be 14 galleons for the wand, as it is a dual rather than a regular which go for 7 galleons instead; 10 galleons for the holster and 2 galleons for the wand polish kit."

Harry handed him the 26 galleons and grabbed the wand polish under his arm, already having his holster strapped on and his wand secured in it.

Ollivander casted a quick spell to Minerva, who had dozed off soon after they had begun testing for wands, which jump started her awake. "Now Minerva, do wake up as sleeping in that chair will pain your sciatic. I should actually throw it away if I'm being honest" -Ollivander explained to no one in particular while pushing them both out the door- "Oh! Harry, next time you do drop by we'll be sure to get you a suitable handle for your wand. Have a lovely day!" -he said as he closed and locked the door.

"He always does that…" -Minerva said with a drowsy voice- "Did you manage to find a better wand after all?"

"Yup, along with a dragon holster and some wand polish kit" -Harry beamed at her

"Ohh, it must be a real piece of art if he insisted on those. He would usually kick us out right after picking the proper wand sometimes. I think he actually kicked some students before they had even time to pay for his work." -Minerva chuckled before adding- "Barmy old man… a master of his craft, but eccentric nonetheless. Now let's go get your trunk before we buy anything else, so you have some way to carry your things around"

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.

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 **A/N 01: Minerva is going to be severely changed compared to canon. Why? Because my Headmistress and Deputy Headmistress back in school were chill af. So I don't see why I should force myself to picture Minnie with a stick up her ass.**

 **A/N 02:**

 **A/N 03: Big thanks to the reviewer _timelgard_ who tipped me off about this chapter having a second copy of itself during its first upload.**


	3. 003 Hedwig

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its universe belong to JK Rowling or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just fool around with its universe and characters.**

 **A/N FAQ:**

 _ **I wanna thank my awesome brother for acting as my Alpha**_

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 ** **.%%%****

* * *

 **The wandering path of a Battlemage**

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 **CHAPTER 003**

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Harry and Minerva had quickly arrived at Luggy-Luggity-Lugage, where he had decided to buy a money pouch, enchanted to store more gold than he would ever need, along with a featherlight charm and an anti-summon cluster of runes etched on it; a scholar bag, enchanted for extra space, featherlight charm and a quick-finding cluster of runes, designed to summon the desired item whenever you reached into the bag; finally they got a trunk enchanted to the size of a small basement, a featherlight charm and a shrinking cluster of runes activated with a tap of the wand. He had managed to bargain a price of 900 galleons for all of it, which was a little steep until you considered that he would only have to buy it once throughout the school.

Once they already had somewhere to store the necessary shopping, they decided to hit the bookstore at Flourish and Blotts. They got everything he would need as well as two books that caught his eye: Illusory Illusions and Mind Magic's. He also spotted a couple of books such as Harry Potter: The Dragon Slayer and Harry Potter: A Voyage To Atlantis, which he took as well. He was intrigued by wizarding fiction and it should be fun to read the wild adventures of a fictional character named like him. Minerva seemed reluctant to let him take them, but finally agreed and said she would explain him later. The total cost was 100 galleons, of which 25 were for the fiction novels.

'Bloody expensive! Those novels better be worth it' -Harry thought as he paid for all of it.

After placing all the books in his scholar satchel, they headed to the Potage's Cauldron Shop to get his cauldron and other required tools for the Potions class.

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"Minerva, is there any difference between the regular set of tools and the silver plated set? Are they worth it?"

"They should be so, although they will be of little help to your grades"

'Huh... that's oddly cynical from her' -Harry thought.

"The silver plated set will actually behave as inert with your ingredients, whereas a regular set could cause unexpected results" -Mr. Potage clarified- "Especially if you don't religiously clean them"

Harry decided that he would pay the 10 extra galleons rather than have random shit going wrong through any of his potions, better safe than sorry. He paid the shopkeeper his 60 galleons for the whole equipment and stored everything in his trunk.

They headed next to Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment to get his set of crystal phials, the telescope and the set of brass scales. Luckily, it turned out to be cheaper than everything else so far, just 14 galleons.

Their next stop was Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, where they obviously went looking for clothing. Harry acquired two sets of black school robes made of silk and the required winter coat. He decided to seize the chance as he finally had some money of his own to buy innerwear of his own size, a jean, a couple of shirts and two hoodies, one black and another one blue. He couldn't describe how good it felt to finally have new clothing of his own size. He actually changed inside the shop and asked if they could burn his old transfigured rags. For the sake of convenience, Minerva transfigured his new clothes into robes as well in order to maintain a low profile. He paid 120 galleons for all of it and stashed his new clothing in his trunk.

All there was left to do now was to check if he could find one of the allowed pets to his liking, and then they would finally be able to get some lunch. They decided it would be better for him to get an owl, as it would allow him to send post whenever he needed while been away from school. They visited a shop called Magical Menagerie, but Harry said that he wanted to check the Eeylops Owl Emporium before picking one. He was actually looking for an owl or any other animal he could feel he could feel a click with, as he supposed it would be his companion for a long time and he would have to take proper care of it. So he would much rather pick a pet he could feel a connection to it than simply one for its fancy colours.

When he was finally about to give up, he caught sight of a snowy owl with green eyes staring straight at him. He felt fascinated by it as soon as their eyes met. He got closer and both inspected each other.

"I wouldn't get too close to that one" the shop clerk warned him "We've had her for over a year now and she has drawn blood from every customer that tried to pet her so far"

Harry reached with his hand and the snowy owl fluffed her feathers up as a warning. But he didn't care anyway.

He began scratching her in the back of her head. "I want her. This is definitely my o-OUCH! The bitch pecked me!" -he exclaimed while rubbing the back of his hand.

"I am sorry sir. Let me help you find another one. This one certainly won't do."

"What? Why? I said I wanted her" -Harry said once again scratching the snowy owl's neck once again despite her protests.

"Absolutely, this wa- Wait, you still want it?"

"Absolutely, I can sense she has a fighting spirit and I am certain we will get a long, right?" -he said while looking at the owl as if he were asking a confirmation. For which he only got another peck on his hand.

"Harry, are you sure you want an owl that is already fighting you?" -Minerva asked trying to dissuade him- "Adapting to Hogwarts is already hard as it is and I believe it would better suit you a… friendlier companion"

"Nope, I'm taking her… Hedwig! Yes, I'm taking Hedwig" -Harry said while said owl gave him a look of annoyance at such name- "Besides, I can tell she is tired of being cooped up in here and is eager stretch her wings, right girl?"

Hedwig lowered her head as in deep thought. She finally looked up and stretched her wings, as if she were reluctantly accepting the offer.

"Alright, if you are determined to with your choice, I'm sure that we can offer you a hefty discount for liberating us from this little troublemaker" -said the clerk, to which he received a warning look from Hedwig- "or… we can charge you full for your wonderful feathery new friend" -he corrected nervously, as Hedwig seemed to sharpen her talons- "And maybe we could offer you a free of charge, premium, indoor bird housing and a bag of our best owl treats" -said the clerk as he began tip toeing away- "Two bags! Definitely two bags of our finest treats! Let me get all your stuff" -he finally pleaded while cowering away as Hedwig, being released by Harry, started flying after him.

"I couldn't have found a better pet for myself!"

"Indeed... I fear I might regret allowing this, once you two arrive at the castle" -Minerva commented exasperatedly.

After some friendly threats, as Harry agreed to call Hedwig's farewell, they paid the whole 90 galleons for Hedwig and stashed the bird housing on his trunk. Once outside, Minerva told Harry to instruct Hedwig to fly back home and that she would be able to find it on her own.

Having that settled, Minerva suggested they go to the Fairy Tavern, where they could have a quiet chat alongside some lunch.

************************(Minerva)**********************

Minerva had had her fair share of muggleborns to introduce to the wizarding world throughout her career as professor and Deputy Headmistress; therefore she knew when things weren't great at home. She had had to take rather a drastic involvement many times before, as it was common to find muggle parents that didn't know how to react to their first magical child or outright rejected it and tried horrendous ways to _fix_ them. Thus, she was certain that it would be for the best to have a quiet and private boot for her lunch with him, as she was sure of having picked some of the worst of those indicators.

Once seated, she ordered some light lunch for herself and told Harry to order whatever he wished without restraint, to which he surprised her by ordering two different courses and three desserts that he said he would like to try. She decided to go for small talk until Mavis the innkeeper brought their order and ease into possibly harsher topics once they were done with their meal.

"Harry, I'm not scolding or criticizing you for your big appetite, but are you sure you will be able to handle all that food?" -Minerva asked in the gentlest of voices she could muster.

"Yes, I'll need it to hold out until Thursday…" -he blurted out without really meaning to if his face was of any indication.

'What could he mean by that?' -Minerva pondered to herself- 'Oh crap… Hogwarts begins on Thursday. So much for easing into the sensitive stuff…' "Why are you worried about having to hold on until Hogwarts?"

Harry didn't respond, instead he looked down at his fork as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Ok… we can get back to that later I guess." -Minerva said softly, she knew from previous experiences that it wouldn't help to push into that sort of things right from the start, she would have to work her way to it- "So… what do you know about magic and the wizarding world? What have your family being able to inform you? So I can explain to you whatever else you may want to know"

"Umm… nothing really. If it hadn't been for the owl's odd behaviour, I would have thought Hogwarts was some sort of cruel joke."

"What do you mean by nothing?" -Minerva was starting to feel alarmed- "What about your parents? And your hidden scar? It took me a while to realize, but you've been using a rather strong glamour charm to hide it as I can't even see through it. So you must've known of magic and your family has certainly managed to provide you some enchanted object to do so."

Harry pulled his quartz necklace from inside his robes and showed it to her. "I found this on the ground when I was younger. You see, I was very lonely back then... and somehow I managed to figure out how to perform a minor illusion over a deck of cards by pure chance. I kind of experimented by myself since then, though I never really knew what was going on." -He explained and reluctantly continued- "As for my parents… They said my father was an alcoholic who abandoned my mother shortly after she became pregnant. And she had supposedly died during labour due to her drug abuse. In fact, I didn't even know my real name until I joined primary school. Before that I was never called anything but freak or boy, and I only got disabused of the idea when the teacher got angry at me for _ignoring_ him and gave me detention."

Minerva was horrified. He was shedding tears as he opened up to her and shared some of his misery. She was heartbroken to hear the monstrous lie they had told him about one of the bravest familes in the last century, his very own family- 'And they were their family as well! How could they have done such a thing?!' -She had been present the day Albus dropped him off. She had scouted the family for the whole day and had known it was less than the ideal environment. But Albus had argued that they were his family. That he would be better away from his fame to be, that he would be protected and nurtured by the love his relatives. She had had no real say in the matter- 'Those monsters didn't even bother to teach him his name… I should have stood my ground against Albus back then...'

"They never even mentioned magic… but I guess… I guess that would be why they've been calling me a freak all along…" -he trailed off- "My rel- The Dursleys always looked at my scar with animosity, and I've never known why. When I discovered I could perform illusions, I figured I would be able to hide it and things would finally look up, but…"

And what about his natural talent for magic. She had heard before of magical children performing magic beyond their capabilities when under stress, but his control and ability to sustain such a powerful glamour over the whole morning…- 'Third year students have problem performing it with wands. Instead, he's actually doing it for who knows how long every day with merely a secondary focus! And even aware of it, I can't manage to see through it!'

After that, Minerva wasn't able to push Harry to recount her any more of his life with the Dursleys. It wasn't that she didn't care, but she knew some memories were too painful to remember, especially if brought back all at once. She would help him get through this, no matter the cost. She owed so much to the Potters; the wizarding world owed them as much. But more importantly, she owed it to her old friend. She would help and protect Harry as fiercely as Dorea would have, were she still alive.

They finished their lunch with Minerva telling him the major aspects about his real parents, to which he was eager to listen. She suggested going for some ice cream once they were done, as she was still livid inside and afraid to do something she would regret if she were to confront the Dursleys after what she had learned.

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"I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO!" -Minerva barged into the headmaster's office- "14 years ago I told you they weren't an adequate family! But Merlin forbids the day Albus Dumbledore may be wrong!"

"Minerva! Calm down and explain what are you talking about" -Dumbledore cut her in.

"Don't you dare to Minerva me! Because this time you've messed it up and big time!"

"Oh dear… could you at least elaborate what is it about"

"Today was my introduction day with Harry Potter!" -Minerva stared at Dumbledore as he gulped with a cold sweat- "He was one of the sweetest boys I've had the chance to introduce to the wizarding world and seems a natural for magic"

"Wait, if you say he already is a natural, how come he needed introduc-"

"Because one could say that he nearly became the first Obscurial in the last hundred years!" -to this raging statement from Minerva, Dumbledore at least had the decency of being aghast- "I am most certain that he has been emotionally abused as well as enslaved for as much of his life as he can remember! They most certainly made sure of repressing any sign of magic coming from him. And I wouldn't be surprised if we ever find out it has been worst"

"Now now Minerva, I can assure you it haven't been as bad as you seem to believe"

"How can you assure me such a thing when it's been 14 years since the last time you saw the boy!?" -Minerva carefully scrutinized Dumbledore's face- "You… you've been keeping an eye on that house… YOU HAVE KNOWN ALL ALONG WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON INSIDE THAT HOUSE AND CHOSE TO IGNORE IT! EXPLAIN TO ME THIS BLOODY INSTANT WHY SHOULDN'T I SHOW YOU WHY I HAVE EARNED MY BATTLEMAGE RANK IN TRANSFIGURATION!" -Mt McGonagall had officially erupted and was spitting hellfire.

"I've had an agent nearby all along tha-"

"Who!?"

"Mrs. Figgs, a squib I've known for a lifetime" -Dumbledore knew this wasn't the moment for withholding information from Minerva if he was to somehow de-escalate things- "She moved in next door within the week we left Harry with his relatives and has been keeping me updated on his wellbeing. She-"

"WELLBEING?! HOW THICK HAVE YOU BECOME WITH AGE ALBUS?! HAVE YOU NOT HEARD ME SAYING HE WAS JUST ONE STEP FROM BECOMING AN OBSCURIAL?! WE SHOULD SKIN HER ALIVE AND CALL IT A PEELING IF THAT IS HER IDEA OF WELLBEING! WHY ON EARTH IS HE STILL LIVING IN THAT PRISON?!"

"I've had my reasons! Now please Minerva, calm down and allow me to explain." -Dumbledore angrily replied, already getting tired of being dressed down- "It all relates to that fateful night of Halloween. I had known that Lily had been researching in the Black's library previous to their hiding. As soon as I heard that Harry had survived, I knew she must have found something so I went to check. What I found was disturbing, but certainly powerful." -Dumbledore recounted, as Minerva had finally calmed down and was keen to know what had happened- "She had been researching rituals, and apparently found what she needed in blood rituals. Lily was able to design a blood ritual as a trap against Voldemort, one capable of harnessing her love for Harry. Willingly sacrificing her life, she granted Harry the complete protection from Voldemort. It was her love for her son, for Harry, that shielded him against Voldemort's evil."

"And what does that have to do with forcing Harry to endure such terrible environment?" -Minerva asked rather harshly, as she knew he would gloss over details and other important information if he had any respite to plan ahead.

"As I was saying" -Dumbledore began anew, with an annoyed look to being prompted to carry on without being able to organize his thoughts- "This was a powerful magic capable of protecting Harry from Voldemort. With some necessary adjustments I was able to bound this protection to a set of blood wards around the Dursleys property. They would hide Harry from Voldemort's remaining followers and, in the eventuality that he was ever found, would hold them off."

"WHAT?! HOW COULD YOU EVEN CONSIDER SUCH A FOOLISH PLAN! A BOY THAT YOUNG WOULD HAVE BEEN KILLED BY THE BLOOD WARD'S DRAINAGE IF THEY WERE EVER STORMED!"

"Minerva, stop interrupting me" -to which he received a fuming stare from said witch- "I had also set a wider ward that would detect and notify me of any magical being with ill intent towards Harry. I've carried ever since a portkey to his house in case he ever needed help"

"Albus… why was it set to detect _magical beings with_ ill intent instead of the ill intent towards the child itself?" -Minerva asked with fuming suspicion.

Dumbledore gulped- "Well… because that one proved to set many false alarms over the years. It was getting hard, having to leave so many meetings just because he was being excitedly disciplined. So I was eventually forced to reconfigure them as such."

"Then why, pray tell, was he left there if you had firsthand knowledge that he was at the very least being emotionally abused?! How can you Merlin's be damned justify that?!"

"Because the blood wards weren't supported only by Harry's magic, but also by Lily's protection. Thus, it had to be sustained by the love and blood bond between Harry and Petunia."

"LOVE?! Are you telling me that his safety relies on love?! And you even expect them to be holding up after all I've just said?!" -Minerva was boggled, she was sure he had finally lost his sanity to his age.

"They are currently working Minerva, you can see for yourself. That device is linked to them and shows their current strength, as well as it would warn us should they ever be under attack" -Dumbledore said as he pointed to a device on the corner of his office. It was a silver spinning contraption that half-heartedly rotated over its own axis.

"Ha! I can see how very much loved he is with that thing" -Minerva mocked him.

"I know it could be a lot better. But so far it has done its job keeping him hidden from Voldemort's more active followers. It has certainly helped him avoid being constantly disturbed by attempts of murder."

"He could have still been protected with a magical family, actually capable of loving him. They could have all remained under a simple _Fidelius_ if needed be"

"Yes, but he would have had to carry with the burden of his fame from a much younger age. Fame built upon the death of his parents. He would have turned out to be a fame-struck child instead of the sweet boy you've told me he has become"

Minerva was oddly suspicious of why he had sounded rather self-assured with the later of his reasons. "Oh the irony... he bought two of his supposed adventures earlier today as he had no idea of who he is to the wizarding world. He was quite shocked when I broke it down to him over ice cream"

"What do you mean? How come he didn't realize with everyone fawning over him? Did nobody recognize him?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out" -Minerva said feeling smugly of finally holding one over him- "I better leave as there is still much to be done before the students arrive on Thursday. But rest assured that we will be discussing his future family as I won't allow Dorea's grandchild to be kept living in such an abusive environment" -She declared before leaving the headmaster's office, as he stayed behind and wanting for more information about their trip to Diagon Alley.

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 **A/N 01:**


	4. 004 Sorting

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its universe belong to JK Rowling or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just fool around with its universe and characters.**

 **A/N FAQ:**

 _ **I wanna thank my awesome brother for acting as my Alpha**_

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 ** **.%%%****

* * *

 **The wandering path of a Battlemage**

############

 **CHAPTER 004**

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Thursday had finally arrived and Harry couldn't wait to leave his relative's house at last, and for most of the year to boot. Although the last couple of days had been a lot better, as the aftermath of Minerva's visit.

They had arrived late in the afternoon last Sunday to find a fuming Vernon waiting for them. The Dursleys were outraged that he hadn't been there with their lunch ready when they got back from church, which Petunia had had to prepare something fast for them to eat. He was quivering with fear when he realised what they had in store for him.

But they all had forgotten he wasn't alone that time. Minerva had been with him. He had noticed she hadn't taken lightly his childhood overview, and that that had been the real reason of their ice cream after lunch, as she had been trying to calm down. It didn't really work out and their reception would have definitely set her off anyway.

She had pulled out her wand right there on the backyard door and transfigured the kitchen's chairs into four angry panthers. She had them round up the Dursleys against the wall before she began on her rant of how they had mistreated him all of his life and how they would be behaving from then on. She spared no threats of transfiguring them into beasts if they didn't behave and alluded to murder if they ever laid a finger on Harry again. She almost did anyway, once she found out his room was actually the cupboard under the stairs. The Dursleys had had no choice but to allow him to move into the guest's room that acted as Dudley's toy storage room. Which had been quickly cleared out and refurbished, by what Minerva had later explained to him was called conjuration, an advanced branch of transfiguration magic. She also explained it wouldn't be permanent, but everything would certainly last until he was off to school.

Hedwig had been waiting for them in a nearby tree and zoomed into the room as soon as he had opened the window. After Hedwig had hooted her complaints, Minerva had offered to help him set up the owl's premium housing. He had only agreed to it once she had assured him that she would enchant everything to be stuck in place and impervious to damage by any means other than magical, as he was certain that the Dursleys would get rid of the whole set as soon as he was off to Hogwarts.

Once his bare room was done, having decided it would be better to keep everything they had bought in his trunk until Hogwarts, they had gone back downstairs to the kitchen where the Dursleys were still against the wall under the watchful eye of the panthers. Dudley had actually peed in his pants out of fear. Minerva had then proceeded to inform them how he would be attending Hogwarts and that they would have no say in the matter, to which both Vernon and Petunia had promptly agreed to. Harry was still certain that they hadn't fought the idea out of fear to magic than any other reason. Minerva then explained how they were to take him to King's Cross Station on Thursday morning and how it wouldn't be in their best interest if she was forced to come and pick him up.

Soon after, Minerva had said farewell to Harry and disapparated from his backyard. He was certain she had done so with a vindictive face, eager to turn tear someone apart. The panthers turned back into chairs after an hour or so, which he had seized to prepare himself an early dinner and retreat back to his room. He wasn't eager to find out if the Dursleys would be finding their courage back once the magical threat was gone. Luckily, it didn't seem it would happen any time soon.

He had spent the rest of the week in his room, doing his best to avoid the Dursleys. A fair amount of time had gone to bonding with Hedwig, although some would call it taming her. The rest he had spent it reading, as he had been instructed that he wasn't allowed to perform wand magic outside from the school grounds on risk of expulsion. He had tried to read his book on Illusory Illusions decided to experiment with his quartz, but it had been clearly written with wand magic in mind, and he hadn't been able to understand jack shit of it. He had finally settled to read both fictions about his alleged adventures. How people could believe he had defeated a dragon by the age of twelve and discovered the lost city of Atlantis by the age of thirteen, he couldn't fathom to imagine.

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After some quick breakfast, an hour car ride and a mutual dismissal with Vernon, Harry had finally arrived to King's Cross Station.

The place was packed with people, and he had been lucky to get his trunk with a shrinking charm as it would have been a nightmare to navigate the station with that. It was already proving hard to get through the masses of people with Hedwig in her cage, which was also drawing strange looks from passer-by's even if he was wearing jeans and his blue hoodie.

He had finally found the column that Minerva had instructed him, the third one in between the 9th and 10th platforms. She said it was meant to be a magical gateway to the hidden 9th3/4 platform for the Hogwarts Express. But reluctant to walk into a wall, he decided to wait for a while and see if he could spot someone else going through it. He had time to spare, as not only he had been eager to leave the Dursleys' home but they had also been excited of getting rid of him.

After some minutes, he spotted an old lady wearing a weird-ass hat and a set of robes, along with a chubby guy, apparently of his age, wearing more subtle clothing although carrying a cage with a frog. They were both hurriedly walking towards the column and went through the magical gateway without hesitation. Having confirmed it was the one, he followed through.

On the other side he encountered another platform packed with people. This crowd was decidedly magical, as most adults sported robes in the wildest range of colours. The younger ones thankfully wore more regular colours. There were some families apparently muggle according to their outfits. The train itself was an old steam engine in bright red colours, which was painful to look at whenever the light reflected on it.

After looking around some more, he finally decided to board the train in one of the middle waggons. A few moments later, he had finally located an empty compartment to settle in. He set Hedwig to one side, who was definitely staring daggers at him clearly unhappy with travelling in her cage, and relaxed in his seat while looking out the window.

Not fifteen minutes later had the compartment door opened and a bushy haired girl peeked inside.

"Excuse me. Do you mind if I share the compartment with you? There's none other empty"

"Sure, come in" -He friendly replied. She started hauling in a trunk that seemed to be rather heavy if her efforts were any clue. When they both realized she would have to lift it to one of the luggage racks over their seats, he decided to give her a hand.

"Thanks" -She said as she sat down. She was wearing an autumn dress with a cream cardigan. She was kind of cute if he was being honest. - "Ummm… I'm Hermione, nice to meet you"- she said while extending a hand.

"Oh! Yeah, I'm Harry. Nice to meet you too" -Harry introduced himself and shook her hand. - 'Dammit, I've zoned out while staring. What an idiot'

"Is that your owl? I wasn't able to bring any pet with me. Do you mind if I pet it?" -She said while already reaching into the cage to scratch Hedwig's head.

"Careful! She… bites." -He tried to warn but the girl was already scratching Hedwig, who was certainly enjoying it. - "Traitor… She's been playing difficult with me ever since I got her"

She laughed before saying. - "Her? Are you sure he is not a boy and that's why he's been mad at you? OUCH!" -she removed her hand from the cage and nipped her bitten finger.

"I guess that's a definite no. She certainly took offense" -he chuckled- "Sorry about that."

"Oh, don't worry. She should definitely take offense in being confused for a boy, right?" -she said reaching into the cage once more to keep on petting Hedwig.

After a few moments of silence, Harry said- "So… what are you carrying in your trunk? A dead body? It sure is heavy as one"

"Gods no! Just my school things and a couple of extra books that I found interesting" -she said with a laugh- "Where is yours anyway?"

"Oh, right here" -he said while pulling his lighter sized trunk- "It has some magic to make it almost weightless as well as some runes to shrink it with a tap of the wand. See?" -He said while taking his wand from his wrist holster and tapping his trunk. Which resulted in him being pinned to the back of his seat by the resized trunk- "Ok, bad idea" -he mumbled while shrinking it once more and the train started moving, leaving the station.

They were still laughing when a redhead walked right into the compartment without any care. He dropped his old trunk in the opposite seat, next to Hermione and placed a cage with a rat on top of it. - "Hi there, I'm Ron, Ron Weasley" -he greeted extending a hand to him.

Hermione found his behaviour rather rude, as she was certainly displeased with the trunk and rat at her side. - "Hi Ron. This is Hermione and I'm Harry"- he said shaking the offered hand as Hermione offered a rather forced smile.

"THE Harry?!"- Rom exclaimed while reaching with his other hand to Harry's forehead and moving away some of his hair. - "Oh, sorry mate. I thought I had hit the jackpot and was meeting Harry Potter. But he would have had THE scar, so I would pull back my hair if I were you… so you won't give people any false hopes, you know"

'This guy is most definitely a dumbass' -Harry thought.

After that, Harry and Hermione tried to small talk while being constantly pestered by Ron's monologue on a sport called Quidditch and some team called the Chubby Cannon's. An hour into the ride, a lady dropped by pushing a food cart. Harry and Hermione bought a sandwich and some drinks each, as well as some fruit for her and enough candy and chocolate for himself to last the rest of the ride and then some. Ron pulled out a whole meat pie from inside his trunk and merrily helped himself to Harry's treats for the rest of the trip. Once their lunch was done and Ron had finally got frustrated by the lack of Harry's enthusiasm for Quidditch, he decided to taunt Hedwig with every other candy he ate. This certainly didn't get him any points with the owl, as she kept staring murderously at Ron whenever he did so.

It was almost tea time when someone opened the compartment once more. Harry was expecting it to be the food lady again, luckily with some good tea to wash down all the candy he had been munching. Instead, a blond guy with two bulky friends on his back showed up.

"Hi, I'm Malfoy, Draco. We are looking for Harry Potter"- he said while inspecting inside- "Oh, damn… two more mudbloods and another Weasley. Here you go Weasley, you can share this with the bird" -said Draco as he threw a candy envelope into Hedwig's cage, which she found infuriating as she spread her wings and battered them against the cage in an attempt to break free and go after him. - "Crabbe, Goyle, let's check the next one" -the blond ponce turned around and left, while one of his goons slammed the door shut.

"That fucking Malfoy bigot!" -Ron exclaimed, to which they received another bang on the door making him jump on his seat- "He's just like his father! A snake-eater pretending to be hot stuff!"

Harry didn't know what Ron was talking about, but he had a feeling that sooner or later he would agree anyway. Five minutes later the food lady finally came around with some tea and pastries which he and Hermione highly enjoyed, as Ron munched on some fudge cakes from his trunk. By sundown Hermione told them that they would be arriving to Hogwarts shortly, and that she and Harry should change into their robes, as Ron had been wearing them all along. After taking his set of robes out of his trunk and pulling Ron out of the compartment so that Hermione would have room to change, he went to the restroom to change himself. Soon after, they reached Hogsmeade, which was appeared to be Hogwarts' station.

All the first years were rounded up by a gigantic bearded man called Hagrid, who lead them into the lake shore where boats awaited for them.

He shared one with Hermione, the chubby boy who had been carrying the toad and a blond girl who was certainly overjoyed with the boat ride.

The scenery was certainly breathtaking. On the opposite side of the lake stood a magnificent castle over the top of a small cliff. It's every window glowed with a warm orange light. On the surface of the lake stood a perfect reflection of it over a mantle of stars. Everything held a magical look to it.

They disembarked into a cave on one side of the cliff directly below the castle. They followed Hagrid through several flights of stairs into a hall where Minerva awaited.

"Good evening professor. They're all yours. I'll be joining the feast now"

"Thank you Hagrid" -Minerva stood and scanned all of them before giving a quick speech- "Soon all of you will be sorted and be joining your new house. It shall be your family away from home and you will probably find your closest friends amongst them. You will stand by each other side and hold each other's back from now until you graduate from Hogwarts, and most likely even beyond that time. Help each other, remain loyal and no matter which house you are about to join, you will be able to strive for greatness in your life."

"Now please await in silence until everything is set and I call you inside" -having said that, she walked into the next hall and closed the door.

"But we surely all know which is the greatest of the houses" -said a cocky voice. Soon enough, Malfoy took the stage in front of them all- "Now, I've looked throughout the train for our great hero, Harry Potter" -he paused as he scanned the crowd of first years- "But apparently his legend is either a lie or he turned out to be a mere squib." -to which there was a general gasping reaction as well as some confused looks from others, the latter evidently coming from the muggle world as himself.

"That being said, we all know that only those of proper breed will be welcomed into the great house of Salazar Slytherin. The rest of you riff raff, can settle amongst the other houses."

Harry already hated the arrogant bastard. But he would let him play the fool for now and show him up during the sorting, that he was actually there and he was no squib... whatever that meant.

Before the bloody ponce had any chance of continuing his drama speech, the door opened and Minerva instructed them to walk in.

***********************(Hatty)***********************

"As I call your name, please come and sit over this stool where the hat will sort you into your respective houses" -Minerva announced to the first years

'Every goddamn year that wizened old fool makes me come up with a stupid song just for his own amusement. And every fucking year that old hag would follow up by calling me _the hat_. I am Hatty Hattington! One of the founder's few remaining relics and I should be respected as such! But noo… we go through this every year and then I'm simply thrown back into my cupboard. Not even a single polishing in the last 50 years! I should quit a leave Dumbledork to handle with all the brats! Yes! A vacation is what I need the lea-'

'Ummm, hello?' -another mind interrupted Hatty's rant.

'Oh, great… the brats… let's see dear, where shall we place you… Oh! I know! Nobody cares!'

"Ravenclaw!" -Hatty's extracorporeal voice boomed into the dining hall.

* * *

%%%

"Granger, Hermione"

'Hello girl'

'Uh, hi. Listen, can I go to Gryffindor? Hogwarts a History says that that's where the headmaster went through his schooling years'

'Oh you clearly have the guts, and you are most certainly foolish enough. But I've got a better choice for your brains if you would like to hear?'

'Ok. But I would really li-'

"Ravenclaw!"

'Prat'

'Off you go Missy'

* * *

%%%

"Malfoy, Draco"

'Whoa whoa whoa kid, hold me up! Hold me up and avoid staining me with your hair wax or I swear I'll make you a 'Puff!'

'You wouldn't dare' -Draco thought murderously but held the damn hat above his head anyway- 'Fine, now send me to Slytherin'

'Ha! I see you are at least cunning enough to not pick a fight you could not win'

"Hu-"

'I'll fill you with troll dung!'

'Fine. What spoilsport'

"Slytherin!"

* * *

%%%

"Potter, Harry" -called Minerva.

The whole hall went silent. Everyone was holding their breath, insanely anxious to finally get a look at the legend itself. The boys were eager to meet the commando-hero who had slayed a dragon at the age of twelve. The girls were dying to get a good look at the handsome scholar who had discovered the lost Atlantean city during one of his adventures at sea when he was thirteen.

But no one, no one except Albus and Minerva, were prepared for the scrawny boy who walked up front. Instead of tall and muscular, they found a rather short skinny guy. Instead of the handsome scholar, he had messy black hair and mismatched eyes, both were emerald green, but his left eye had an extra ring of colour that shone as a burning ember; the glasses everyone _knew_ about were nowhere to be seen. And no one could find any trace of the mystical scar on his forehead. Their proof that he had actually survived the impossible was missing.

Once on the stool, Minerva placed Hatty on Harry's head.

"SL-! GR-! Damn it!"

'Alright kid, it seems you are going to be a tough nut to break. Let's see…' -Hatty spoke into Harry's mind- 'Oh-ho-ho! Look at this… you are certainly peculiar… to say your minds are a mess would be the understatement of the century.'

'What are you finding so amusing? And what about the minds thing? I'm not turning schizophrenic, am I?' -Harry thought back, he was getting tired of everyone's reaction to whom he really was.

'Oh don't you worry kid, you are not going insane. Although the mayhem coming your way might actually drive you that way' -Hatty chuckled out loud- 'Now… enough of that, let's get down to business. Where would you like to go?'

'Uhh… isn't that supposed to be your job?'

'Yes, yes kiddo, don't get cocky on me. I am meant to place you were you would fit the most, if I even bother to do so. But there are many doors that you could unlock. You seem to be special in that sense. So, where would you like to go?'

'Umm… what are my options? And what do they entail?'

'Merlin be damned, didn't you listen to my song kid?'

'Yeah… not really'

'I've always said that all that rhyme was a waste of time… but noo, why listen to the hat in charge of inspecting everyone's mind?!' -Hatty complained- 'I guess I'll give you the highlights then. Gryffindor is the house of the foolishly brave, they will charge ahead without second thought. Slytherin is the house of the cunning and ambitious, where they would sell their very own mother if it would further their goals. Ravenclaw is the house of the wise, who love to foolishly chase knowledge better left untouched. Hufflepuff is the house for the loyal and hardworking folk; they are a bit clingy if you ask me."

'Huh… you make them all sound so tempting…' -Harry mocked the hat.

'God damn it kiddo, my name is Hatty Hattington!' -Hatty barked in Harry's mind- 'Now where would you like to go?'

'Geez, sorry. I wonder… do the colours mean anything? I have a blue hoodie I like to wear'

"RAVENCLAW!" -Hatty boomed- 'Now scram kid, and don't come back unless you bring some hat wax with you'

"WHAT?! BUT HE IS A WIZARDING HERO! HE SHOULD BE A GRYFFINDOR, THE HOUSE OF THE BRAVE" -The hall heard Ron protest.

* * *

%%%

"Weasley, Ronald"

'Another one of you Weasel-ys? Your family do breed like rats'

"Gryffindor!"

'Off with you… rat-blood'

****************************(Harry)******************************************

Harry had sat alongside Hermione as soon as he had been sorted. The rest of his house had welcomed him in and most of them stayed looking at him with thousands of questions running through their minds. The awkward silence went on until a buxom Chinese girl a couple of years older finally asked.

"Hi, I'm Cho Chang, welcome to Ravenclaw Harry. So… we were wondering, are you THE Harry Potter?"

"Uhh… I didn't kill any dragon, nor discovered any lost city. I've living with the… muggles all of my life. I didn't even know about a wizarding world until I got my owl"

"So… no? You don't have the scar and certainly not the looks." -she said with disdain- "Stop using his name and pretending to be him, you poser!" -she said and turned around dismissively to talk with her friends. The rest of the table lost interest in him as well.

'Damn, she certainly looks hot, but what a total bitch!'

"Don't worry Harry, she seems to be the queen bitch. She would only be interested in you because of your fame." -Hermione offered him as support- "I've read about the tragic events that brought the war to an end but… what's that about dragons and a forgotten city?"

"She's talking about the adventure books, most people believe them to be real chronicles. But my grandma made sure to beat some sense into me" -said the chubby boy across from them. Harry recognized he was the same one he had seen carrying a frog at the train station.- "I'm Neville Longbottom by the way, nice to meet you"

"Hermione Granger"

"Harry Potter"

"I told you to stop pretending, you poser!" -Cho barked at him from the side.

"Ok, sure. I guess you do know me better after all. I'll be just Harry from now on I guess" -he said mockingly.

By then the sorting was by finally over, having the last guy been sorted into Slytherin, Blake Zabini he had heard the bloke being called. Once he was seated, an old man with a long white beard stood up from the centre of the teachers table.

"Good evening everyone. I wish to welcome the new arrivals and welcome back those who have returned for yet another year of schooling. For those new to the magical community, I'm Albus Dumbledore current Headmaster of Hogwarts. But before we begin the feast I would like to make a few announcements. First of all, the Forbidden Forest, as you may have already guessed, is forbidden. Make sure you are not wandering inside after sundown as you probably won't make it back. Secondly, the southern wing on the third floor is completely off limits. Venture inside at the risk of your very own life. That being sai-" -he was interrupted by an ugly bastard coughing at one end of the teacher's table- "Ah, yes. Mr Filch would like me to remind you that the list of forbidden objects has been updated. Please, do go through them at your own common room's news board and make sure you don't possess any of the listed items. That being said: Jabberwocky! Tuck in"

No sooner had he said his strange code word that the tables filled with all sorts of food and drink… well, just pumpkin juice pitchers. He served some of it for himself and Hermione before trying it.

"Ugh… this thing is horribly sweet. Are we supposed to dine with it? Can't we get anything else? Sparkling water at least?" -a pop later, a new pitch of sparkling water had appeared beside him. "Huh… sweet! Can we order anything we want?"

"No can't do. We can only ask the elves for fruit juices, water and sparkling water. We can also ask them for sodas on the weekends and during feasts" -an older pretty blond said beside them- "I'm Penny by the way, Penny Clearwater. I'm the fifth year prefect. So anything you may want to know from the life at Hogwarts, you may ask me or any of the other prefects on our house."

"Nice… and thanks!"

"Ugh, Harry! Why did you serve me this pumpkin syrup to me too! It's disgusting!" -Hermione complained as she proceeded to empty her glass into his- "Now you can have it. It's way too sweet for me. I'd rather have some lemonade"

"And I'll have some mango juice" -said Neville. Two pops later, each had a pitch of their preferred drinks.

"Great… now I have to drink twice as much of this before I can have anything else" -to which Penny mischievously giggled.

They spent the rest of the meal getting to know Neville, as Harry and Hermione had already covered the basics on the train ride, and pestered Penny for trivial information about the castle whenever they had any doubts. Although they also asked her some other things simply to annoy her, to which they completely failed. An hour into dinner, all the food was replaced by deserts and one could ask the elves for coffee, tea or hot cocoa. Soon enough, this was over as well and the Headmaster dismissed them all to their respective common rooms. Everyone in the older years left the hall while the firsties were left waiting and soon would follow their respective fifth year prefects.

Once the upper years were gone, all the Ravenclaw firsties followed Penny through a maze of hallways and stairs until they reached the Ravens Tower. Penny indicated that the secret entrance to their common room was an odd doorknocker in the middle of a wall; that to gain entrance, one should tap it three times with a wand and answer the given riddle. Each person could attempt it only twice and would have to wait for someone else to let them through, in case that they ever failed both times.

Once inside, they encountered a warm room divided into two very distinctive sections. To the left of the entrance, the walls were covered with bookshelves filled to the brim; in the centre of this side were 7 long tables capable of sitting 10 students each, apparently they were designed to hold the house studying at the same time. Whereas to the right of the entrance were two fireplaces on the wall and a multitude of couches, love seats and sofa's scattered across that side of the room as well as enough coffee tables to not be pushing for space; this was clearly the loafing area. Across from the entrance were two sets of doors that each lead to spiral stairs for the boys living side of the tower and the girls side.

Before anyone had any time to scatter, be it to the library side or the comfort side, Penny ordered to climb to the seventh floor of the tower, pick rooms and set up their stuff. She explained that they were assigned the seventh floor and they would be keeping the floor and rooms throughout their schooling.

Seven flights of stairs later, Harry was completely winded. He found a half circular room with a fireplace on the inner wall and five set of doors along the outer wall, where the middle one was marked as bathroom. In the centre of the room were all of their trunks and pets, except for his which he still had it shrinked inside his pocket; on top of each pile of their stuff was sign with their name, which he guessed they would have to place them on their own room doors.

Harry picked up Hedwig's cage and said- "Hey girl, did you miss me?" -to which he only got an annoyed stare- "Ok, I know, you want to get out. But I brought you some chicken!" -but his angry owl kept her stance. He sighed.- "Fine, I'll let you out in a bit. Since I got here first, we get first choice. Want any in particular?" -this time Hedwig did give a positive response and looked at the door opposite the stairs, the door against the central wall. He hanged his sign on the door and walked inside.

The room was actually big. He had a queen sized four poster bed; a nightstand; a dresser big enough for all of his belongings with a huge mirror on the side; a private bookshelf; an elegant salamander stove; a decent table for studying and very comfortable looking padded chair. He was in for a truly comfortable lifestyle throughout his school years, which he would thoroughly enjoy after having lived for so long cramped inside that cupboard.

After he had released Hedwig, ran for his life, fed her the chicken he had brought for her and finally opened a window so she could take off; he got down to unpacking his things. Once everything was set, he felt rather lazy about the idea of going back down the seven flights of stairs and decided to forego the idea. The comfy looking bed was certainly calling for him after all. A quick trip to the bathroom and some meddling with the stove later, he was ready to sleep and begin a new era of his life tomorrow.

* * *

 **.%%%**

* * *

 **A/N 01: So… a few days ago I realized that I've mistakenly been calling the Ravenclaw's as ravens when their proper animal is an eagle. I've decided that I didn't care and it will stay that way as if it were a sign of fate itself and not just a happy mistake. I've also decided if too many people decide to complain about it, I'll give you all a chapter where I'll be calling the Gryffindors as Doors, the Ravencalws as Claws (as I expect you would be requesting them to be called), the Slytherins as Rings and the Hufflepuffs as Jigglypuffs. And it'll stay there for future reference as well. I will also be denying any accusations that I'm actually doing it this way because I'm too lazy to correct it.**

 **A/N 02: The sorting hat… I hope that at least some of you have played that awesome game. As for the hat itself, even if it is ancient relic from the founder's, that thing main interaction for centuries has been the minds of countless of kids. So yeah, I believe he's entitled to be at least a little wacky.**

 **A/N 03: Here is the full sorting in case you are interested:**

" Harry Potter ... Ravenclaw ! "  
" Hermione Granger ... Ravenclaw ! "  
" Neville Longbottom ... Ravenclaw ! "  
" Hannah Abbott ... Ravenclaw ! "  
" Su Li ... Ravenclaw ! "  
" Susan Bones ... Ravenclaw ! "  
" Oliver Rivers ... Ravenclaw ! "  
" Roger Malone ... Ravenclaw ! "  
" Daphne Greengrass ... Ravenclaw ! "  
" Tracey Davis ... Ravenclaw ! "

" Dean Thomas ... Gryffindor ! "  
" Seamus Finnigan ... Gryffindor ! "  
" Ronald Weasley ... Gryffindor ! "  
" Terry Boot ... Gryffindor ! "  
" Lavender Brown ... Gryffindor ! "  
" Parvati Patil ... Gryffindor ! "  
" Padma Patil ... Gryffindor ! "  
" Fay Dunbar ... Gryffindor ! "  
" Jane Runcorn ... Gryffindor ! "

" Draco Malfoy ... Slytherin ! "  
" Gregory Goyle ... Slytherin ! "  
" Vincent Crabbe ... Slytherin ! "  
" Blaise Zabini ... Slytherin ! "  
" Theodore Nott ... Slytherin ! "  
" Lisa Turpin ... Slytherin ! "  
" Millicent Bulstrode ... Slytherin ! "  
" Pansy Parkinson ... Slytherin ! "  
" Mandy Brocklehurst ... Slytherin ! "  
" Morag MacDougal ... Slytherin ! "

" Lily Moon ... Hufflepuff ! "  
" Megan Jones ... Hufflepuff ! "  
" Sally-Anne Perks ... Hufflepuff ! "  
" Sophie Roper ... Hufflepuff ! "  
" Anthony Goldstein ... Hufflepuff ! "  
" Ernest Macmillan ... Hufflepuff ! "  
" Justin Finch-Fletchley ... Hufflepuff ! "  
" Michael Corner ... Hufflepuff ! "  
" Wayne Hopkins ... Hufflepuff ! "


	5. 005 Magical Theory

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its universe belong to JK Rowling or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just fool around with its universe and characters.**

 **A/N FAQ:**

 _ **I wanna thank my awesome brother for acting as my Alpha**_

* * *

 ** **.%%%****

* * *

 **The wandering path of a Battlemage**

############

 **CHAPTER 005**

############

Harry was thankful that classes wouldn't start until next Monday. He had woken up early and fully recovered after a wonderful nightmare free night. Eager to begin his new life he had taken a shower and gone downstairs to the common room. After having waited for a while, he got bored and hungry enough to try his own luck reaching the Dining Hall for breakfast. It had probably been his worst decision in weeks. He had spent over an hour lost within the castle. He had been capable of remembering half of his way back, but when he encountered a stair going up, which he remembered coming from, but he knew he actually wanted to go down, he had completely lost his way and all sense of direction.

Stairs going down would half of the times take him down, but the other half they would lead him up instead; he was quite certain that one flight of stairs down had taken him three floors up instead. The same thing would happen with some hallways, as he would be trying to reach the lake side of the castle and turn up into the forest side instead; thankfully the hallways did so fewer times than the stairs. After showing up into the same hallway for the third time, he had noticed a moving painting of knight laughing his ass out due to his lack of directions. He then realized he could use the apparently sentient paintings and ask for directions from them; although some ended up pointing him the wrong way anyway.

By the time he got to the Dining Hall, Hermione and Neville were already halfway through their breakfast as they chatted with the rest of his house year mates.

Once he had exchanged greetings and introductions with everyone and served some breakfast for himself, Neville asked. - "Where were you this morning? Penny told us last night after settling in to meet her at the common room at 7.30 to guide all of us for breakfast, but when I went looking for you were already gone. And how come you only just got here?"

"Uhm… I woke up around 6 and by 7 I was bored and hungry already, so I decided to venture my way down for breakfast. I got so fucking lost that you wouldn't imagine how much I've walked." -Harry said with a sigh- "After an hour or so, I finally figured out to ask the paintings for directions; although some pointed me in the wrong way just for fun"

"So you must know the way around the whole castle by now, right?" -asked Hermione.

"Ha! Funny girl… some stairs and hallways don't make any sense at all if I'm being honest. You'll see what I mean soon enough"

"Man… how come you are not even winded after all that wandering? I'd surely be out of breath." -said Roger Malone.

"Well… let's say that I've done my fair share of running to stay alive" -Harry blurted out without intending to.

At that moment, the upper windows opened up and hundreds of owls flew inside, preventing any awkward silence or line of questioning. Some were carrying mail or a newspaper in their talons and some others would be seemingly be carrying nothing until they landed and picked mail from inside their feathers. To his surprise, Hedwig landed in front of him.

"Hey girl! Have you got anything for me?" -To which he only received a flat look- "Ok, looking for further compensation I guess. I swear… you forget about her inside of a cage for only a couple of hours and she won't give you a break afterwards!" -Harry mockingly complained is he served Hedwig some fruits. She took a few bites before going back to staring at him- "Geez! What else do you want? Come on, I'll let you pick" -her response was to quickly steal all of his bacon, which coincidentally he had been saving for last and there was no more left on the table.- "Oh come on! What is it with you owls and stealing my breakfast?"

His surrounding housemates had a good laugh at his interaction with Hedwig, and after making a show of eating her stolen bacon she finally allowed Harry to pet her. After that she hopped away to receive some scratching from Hermione, as well as stealing bits and pieces of breakfast from Neville, Roger and Hannah Abbott, who was sitting next to Hermione.

Once she had satisfied her dose of scratching, breakfast stealing and further petting, Hedwig went back to nibble Harry's hand in farewell and took off. What surprised them all was that instead of going out the windows, she flew over to the Gryffindor table and after a quick dive she soared back up again with a stack of pancakes and bacon on her talons, despite the screaming complaints of Ron. She headed next to the Slytherin table, where she proceeded to drop the food as if it were a bombardment attack; which landed on a blond head. If the screams of outrageous indignation were any clue, the intended target had definitely being Malfoy. Having successfully completed her revenge, she flew out the window.

After witnessing and coming to terms with the whole attack, Harry and his housemates were laughing their socks off; despite Harry and Hermione being the only ones to know why that had happened. Neville had actually fallen off his seat and was currently rolling on the floor, failing miserably to get a hold of his breath.

By the end of breakfast they had been informed by Minerva, who apparently was their head of house, that starting on Monday they would be starting the Magical Theory intensive course, before the other classes even began. They would be having three hours in the morning and three more every afternoon for the whole first four weeks. Each of the first-year houses would be attending with their respective head of house and housemates for every class and mixed classes wouldn't begin until the normal schedules were delivered.

Most of his housemates had groaned to such news and complained about the tediousness of it, everyone except Harry, Hermione and Roger who didn't know what to expect. From the upper years, some had given them condescending looks while others outright laughed at their expense.

*************************(Minerva)********************************

"Come in"

"What is it Albus?"

"Minerva, I would like to know your thoughts about Harry's scar, or rather lack of, as I've been looking into the matter and my conclusions are rather… extraordinary"

Minerva sighed with frustration as she pinched her nose bridge. - "Have you been stalking a student Albus? Again?"

"I'll make no comments on that. So please, what did he tell you about his scar? What did you find out?"

"Well… on his introduction day he showed me a magical quartz that he had possessed for some time, one of flawed quality I believe. He recounted how he had found it when he was a mere child and learned to instinctively use it for illusory magic on mundane objects. Through experimentation he said he had finally found the way to apply it on himself… Harry has such a gift that he developed a glamour before had even learnt about magic itself! It was rather strong as well, as I couldn't break through it even knowing it was there. You've always had a knack for theatrics, so I guess with your knowledge over detection magic you've been able to see through it already, am I right?"

"I did… and I didn't" -Dumbledore said, allowing for suspense to build up.

"Care to explain?" -Minerva inquired, feeling annoyed at the headmaster's antics.

"Well… I did hit him with every detection charm I know and tried with a few other methods. But all I got back unusual was the quartz itself. So I did a little experiment of my own…" -Dumbledore paused for dramatic effect, to which she only raised a questioning eyebrow- "Last Thursday I asked one of the house-elves to temporarily replace his magical quartz with a carbon copy I made myself. He's been wearing it for these last three days"

"So? If he managed to cast a glamour with a secondary foci, I guess he would have been more than able to cast it with a wand Albus"

"Oh Minnie dear… he doesn't even know it's been switched"

"For Merlin's sake Albus! Stop using passive _legilimens_ on children! And don't you dare to say it was for The Greater Good!"

"Once again, I have no comments for such allegations. But as I was saying… he didn't notice the change. Care to guess why?"

Minerva took a few moments to ponder about the situation, everything she knew and everything had recently picked up this week while teaching them. The solution was quite against the odds, but if Albus was certain that the scar remained, then it had to be it! - "Another one? So soon? But they are supposed to be extremely rare!"

"Indeed they are, but you are forgetting that they are not completely unrelated. I've already checked with the proper spell and he proved to be positive." -Dumbledore seemed enthusiastic about their findings, and as a Battlemage in Transfiguration she could certainly relate; they did tend to be interesting for her field of study after all. - "Now, I think you should break it to him as her head of house. I'd also advise that you bring her along"

***********************(Harry)************************

Even though the first week of Magical Theory had been entertaining for him, Hermione and Roger, it had definitely lacked the excitement they had expected. For the rest of his housemates, it had been frankly tedious.

The first lesson consisted of going through the different hierarchy levels of witches and wizards. The completion of at least three OWL examinations was the minimum requirement to become an adult wizarding citizen. The next level consisted of those who had passed at least three NEWT examination, which was also a requirement for any desirable job. Master level consisted of an apprenticeship under another Master or higher wizard, which would usually go for no less than 5 years and would include another exam by its completion. Mage level was a certificate of expertise in the chosen field of magic, in which Board of Mages evaluated the knowledge and accomplishments of the applicants. Battlemage was instead a recognition given by the Board of Mages to those who proved to be the most proficient in their field of magic during battle. Warlock was the highest hierarchy level reserved for only those capable of becoming a Battlemage in no less than three fields of magic. There weren't many Warlocks, and the latest had been Dumbledore who achieved it by the end of the Grindelwald War.

After that, they had gone through the basics of application, interactions and workings of magic itself for the rest of the week. Minerva had told them the second week would be more entertaining.

The whole of Ravenclaw first years were waiting in their Transfiguration classroom. He was quite eager due to the promise of an entertaining class, whereas Hermione had been all but jumping on her seat from excitement.

"Good morning everyone" -said Minerva from the back of the classroom. She had apparently again made one of her sneaky entrances in her animagus form. - "Today we will begin by going through the different kinds of magical foci used by witches and wizards. Who can name them for me?"

No one raised their hands so Minerva had to pick someone at random. Neville having been pointed answered- "Uhm… wand?"

"Indeed Neville, but there two others that I would expect at least some of you to know even if they are quite rare to come across nowadays. Tell me Roger, what sort of magical foci would you have expected from a wizard before coming to Hogwarts?"

"I always thought that wizards would actually use staffs" -answered Roger.

"Precisely, muggle society has always pictured us witches and wizards as staff wielders. It may have been a common occurrence long ago, enough to some of it to leak into their world, but nowadays it is quite the opposite. This is why every year I find it amusing that it is those who are muggleborns that are able to name it instead of the children raised in the magical world. Now, I believe Harry should be able to help us name the last of the foci we'll be seeing." -said Minerva looking at him.

Even though he would prefer to avoid being the centre for this kind of topic, he had no way out. - "I believe you refer to crystals and gemstones?"

"I do, although not every crystal or gemstone is suited for the task. As with magical wood, crystals and gemstones need to be of a magical nature themselves to be of any use as foci. Otherwise, they are simple jewelry. Yes Hermione?"

"Professor McGonagall, why is it that only wands are widely known?"

"Hermione, as members of the Ravenclaw house I've told you all many times that I expect to be called Minerva, as we are all part of the same greater family in a sense. I insist that I would much rather prefer all my ravens see me as their aunt than a faculty member, you still have the rest of the professors for that. And if catch any of you calling me grandma i swear I'll make you regret it. I'll have you know that I'm still in my early 90's and I know I still have plenty of adventures ahead of me"

"Sorry profess- Minerva"

"No worries dear. As for why most magical raised children don't know about staffs and magical crystals it's because they've been thoroughly replaced by the use of wands since their invention."

"But why?" -Hermione insisted.

"The most basic reason for it is their practicality and convenience. Let me explain the basic advantages and disadvantages of each and you will soon realize why it has become so."

"The very first of magical foci to have ever been used by wizards have been the magical crystal-type. Magical crystals and gemstones are best suited for sustained spells, as all you need to do is to continue feeding a small stream of magic into the crystal without need of recasting the spell itself. As such, they had been commonly used for spells that were meant to target the caster himself or something he would remain in close contact with as it wouldn't be able to feed the required magic over a long range. The major drawback in regards to magical crystals is that they can be found in different qualities. Increasing in power and rarity as they go from chipped, flawed, regular, flawless and finally to perfect. The first three are easy enough to come across and buy, but the spell power they provide is significantly lower to that of the same spell casted with a suitable wand. A flawless gemstone would allow the same output of spell power as a wand, but they are quite rare and expensive to acquire. As for a perfect quality you would be lucky to come across more than one along your life. Gemstones of perfect quality are able to provide a spell power significantly higher than most wands, although they are so wondrously expensive that hardly anyone would consider them a worthwhile investment even if found for sale. There is also the magical crystal or gemstone type to consider, as they perform better for certain spells or fields of magic but we'll be discussing that on the evening. Anyone got any doubts so far?"

As they had been promised by Minerva that they would be going over the specifics of each foci throughout the week, none of her ravens had any pressing concerns about the magical crystals so far. That didn't mean that Harry didn't notice Hermione writing down questions and doubts to ask later besides the notes they were all taking. He had quite a few of himself, especially from a practical point of view as he had become quite fond of his quartz and its convenience. Although that didn't mean he would be showing around why he was so interested in the magical gemstone-type of foci.

"Carrying on, the second kind of magical foci to ever be used by wizard were the staff-type. Staffs are magical foci similar to wands as they are made out of magical wood and require a magical core of its own to properly channel the magic. Staffs are better suited for what is known as area of effect spells as they allow for a greater spell power undiluted by the area effect. Area of effect spells can be divided into two types: conical and area wide. The former allows the caster to perform a continuous stream of spell originating from the staff itself, such as the torch flame spell or the water jet spell. An area wide spell allows the caster to cast something similar although with an epicenter away from the caster himself and in a fully circular radius, maintaining the spell for as long as it's required or until magical exhaustion. The major drawback for area wide spells is that the drainage of magic increases proportionally to the affected area as well as the distance between the caster and the epicenter of the spell. As for the conical spells, a staff allows the user to channel more magic into the spell allowing a greater spell power than the one achieved with the use of a wand. All being said, the true deterrent of the staff-type foci is that its proper size usually matches the height of the caster. As they are incapable of being shrunk or concealed due to the conductive nature of magical wood, they finally fell out of use due to their inconvenience of transportation and their inability of being inconspicuous. Only those who had been able to find magical wood capable of being fused into their magical core have one nowadays. Furthermore, elemental mages are often their only users, as elemental magic is the field that gains the most from area of effect casting"

"Minerva, what do you mean by merging it with one's core?" -inquired Hermione unable to restrain herself from chasing such interesting information.

"You see, even if we do work with magical woods according to the species of the tree it came from, each individual tree has a personal magical signature. Wand wood in the hands of a wizard with a matching magical signature can be dematerialized and merged into the wizard's magical core as a form of internal storage. But such a match of magical signature is so unique that the only way to achieve it is for the wizard to find and harvest the wood from the living tree itself. Some wandmakers claim that the wizard has to actually gain the respect from the tree's essence before being able to harvest a suitable piece of wood. This endeavour is so arduous and unreliable of guaranteeing a result that it is hardly ever undertaken. Some ancient families are said to keep their own magical groves inside their manor grounds for this very purpose, but even then it's been proven to be unreliable."

"Finally, the latest discovery in regards of magical foci, have been the wand-type. Wands are the most widespread and popular kind of foci ever used by wizards. As we all know, they consist of a small stick of magical wood in between 6 and 25 inches of length with a great variety of magical cores to fuse inside. Its major breakthrough has been its ability to allow the caster to perform spells with a definite amount of magic to it, defined as its magical charge. This magical charge has allowed casting spells from larger distances spending the same amount of magic as if it were casted at close range. Therefore, the spell power has been redefined as the rate over that magical charge is consumed for the completion of the spell. As the spell travels, the magical charge is slowly drained resulting in less spell power the farther the target is from the caster. Ultimately, this has also allowed for the more experienced wizards to achieve the art of point-casting spells"

"Compared to the crystal-type foci, magical charges allowed for sustained spells to be casted once and remain effective regardless of the distance to the caster until the magical charge drains up. This amongst the different kinds of quality and rarity of crystal-type foci, resulted in the disuse of gemstones. In comparison to staff-type foci, wands are capable of duplicating the conical type of spell although with a moderate loss of spell power. As for the area effect spells, the magical charges of wands allowed to reproduce their effect to a certain extent, working as bombs instead of a constant stream of magic"

From that moment onwards, the class had developed into more and more details and specifications about the inner workings of wands and spells in general, that even Hermione would have been hard pressed to disagree it was rather dull. It was only by lunchtime that Minerva had dismissed them before asking Harry for a private word.

Harry patiently waited for Minerva to tell him what was it she wanted to talk to him about, but she seemed determined to wait for everyone else to leave before doing so. Once the door had finally clicked closed, Minerva asked- "So Harry, how have you been?"

"Fine, I've quite enjoyed being at Hogwarts and we are all getting along amongst our in-house year mates."

"I see… have you noticed anything strange lately? Perhaps something not working as it should."

"Not that I can think of, at least for what I would expect from a magical castle" -Harry was wondering why she had waited for everyone to leave before asking such trivial things.

"So nothing has been amiss during the weekend or today, right?" -said Minerva with a look of excitement.

"No Minerva. Is there anything I should be worried about?"

"Oh nonsense Harry, there's nothing to worry about. I'm just a watchful head of house. Now, off you go to the Dining Hall. You need to have some lunch and stretch your limbs before the afternoon part of the class. I'll have the house-elves bring me something light into my office. Off you go" -said Minerva as she ushered him out of the classroom and closing it behind him.

'That was odd… I wonder if all of our teachers are going to behave so randomly' -Harry thought as he headed for lunch.

* * *

%%%

The rest of the week had been interesting enough. Magical Theory was getting more complex and exciting with every class. His housemates who had been magically raised were no longer able to slack off that much. It seems their parents only taught them the basics on the subject, enough to get around and be able to comprehend other things.

Every day when the bell rang for lunch, Minerva would ask him trivial things, such as how he had been doing and if he had noticed anything unusual. Though she would kick him out of the classroom after his "everything is fine". What really perplexed him was that every day she would claim to eat at her office but she already be there sitting at the teachers table by the time he arrived at the Great Hall. He had asked last Friday about it and all she said was only her latest-self was supposed to be seen outside of her classroom, whatever that meant. It had actually left him utterly confused. Minerva had asked him to join her for tea on Saturday afternoon, where he had finally arrived and knocked on the door.

"Come on in" -he heard from inside. Her office was neat yet it offered a feeling of comfort. The walls were covered in bookshelves completely filled to the brim and there was an extremely comfortable looking arm chair in one corner beside the windows that opened to the flying pitch. On the opposite side of the room sat her desk and Minerva herself with… someone else, who apparently got pranked into purple hair.

"I'm sorry Minerva, I guess I arrived earlier. I'll wait outside for you to be done"

"Not at all Harry. Come and join us, would you like some tea?"

"No really, I can wait outside until you two find out who pranked her" -to which he received an amused look from Minerva as girl outright laughed and her hair proceeded to change into a fiery red colour. "Woah! That's sick! How do I get pranked like that?"

"Let me introduce you as it seems that you two haven't met. Harry, this is Nymphadora Tonks, a third year Hufflepuff. She will be assisting us with the matter at hand"

"Wotcher Potter. Professor McGonagall stop using my name! You know I hate it. As for you Harry… you better call me Tonks or I'll give your name to the twins" -she threatened with a grin.

"I believe everyone in the castle already knows it, even if no one believes it's my real name and they call me a poser." - 'Though I still don't know why it gives me the creeps... What twins could she… oh, shit' - "But don't you worry, nice to meet you Tonks." –He quickly amended. After taking a seat and taking a seep from the offered tea, Harry inquired- "So, why am I here? I haven't done anything wrong, that I know of at the very least, and I haven't been so bad in class as to need a tutor, right?"

"Nope. But you may consider me your master, young padawan" -Tonks said with a wide smile.

"Wait, why am I becoming your apprentice?"

"All in due time Harry. But before we broach that subject, have you noticed anything different this week?" -asked Minerva.

"For the hundredth time, everything has been fine. Can't figure out why you've been so worried about me"

"Not even with your alternate foci Harry?" -Minerva asked with an amused face, while she held up his…

'Crap! When did she… wait, I still have mine' - "No Ma'am-"

"Minerva. Nymphadora calls me professor McGonagall as an act of retribution. So don't worry, we can keep it casual as you are still one of my ravens"

"Sorry. But no, haven't noticed anything strange, although I haven't used it for much lately… now that I know of its limitations"

"Really, so you say that yours is working just fine? Even if you know that for a flawed quartz it would be a bit of a stretch to hold a glamour against a whole school who has been looking for your scar. Maybe not at all times, but I'm sure everyone did at some point" -she said trying to contain a grin.

'Huh… i guess she is right… but maybe mine is actually better than flawed and it is just a little bit misshapen.' -Harry took his quartz from inside his robes and inspected it. A dawning realisation hit him. His quartz was no longer magical. It was as if it had been drained! - 'Oh shit; now I need to learn to cast the glamour with a wand! Or get a new one that… unless she swapped mine with a fake, but wh-'

"Merlin be damned… you were not kidding! He really is!" -Tonks said excitedly while looking at his forehead.

'Oh fuck… my very first actual fan, going nuts over some impossible made up shit'

"Indeed… I certainly had my doubts when Albus told me. But he most definitely did not notice during the latest week. And only now that he realized that his quartz wasn't the one he thought it was did his scar finally revealed itself"

"What? What do you mean by a week? Everyone would have gone haywire if they had seen it. Hermione would have told me or at the very least asked about it!"

"Harry, some people are born with a certain gift, aside from their magic I mean. Tonks, would you please?"

Harry looked at Tonks and he nearly fell off his chair. Right in front of his eyes, she went from her purple hair he hadn't noticed was back to wrinkled green skin with pointy ears.

"Fear me you must not" -said Tonks with her best imitation of Yoda's voice.

"Screw you! I wasn't expecting it. That's some amazing piece of transfiguration; I didn't even see you draw your wand!"

"Harry watch your language. I said to be casual, not vulgar. And no, that's not transfiguration to my deepest regret; it's actually an extremely rare hereditary capability. They are classed as Metamorphmagus, although she is still very much human"

"Sweet! If that allows her to do what I think it does, it must be amazing!"

"Ha… I didn't expect the great Harry Potter wizarding-hero to be a perv at such an early age" -Tonks casually commented.

"What?! No! I didn't mean it like that! I meant that you are a shape shifter!"

"Amazing. How did you know Harry?" -asked Minerva with excitement

"Because I used to play Dn'D- I mean Dungeons and Dragons- I mean…" -Harry let out a sigh with exasperation- "It's a board game which involves a ton of magical and mythical creatures as well as races, where you play through all different kind of adventures"

"Oh… rather disappointing. I was hoping you were at least somewhat conscious or completely hiding the fact. Although I believe you will enjoy your classes with Angela"

"Conscious about what?" -Harry was getting annoyed at being kept in the dark about whatever had been going on through the week and this meeting.

"That you, my dear apprentice, are like me" -said Tonks with a joyous smile.

"Of course I'm like you Tonks! Why would I be at Hogwarts if I wasn't a… oh. You didn't mean a wizard. You mean…?"

"Yes dum-dum! You are a Metamorphmagus like me! I never even believed I would meet another one! I'm so excited! Just imagine all the havoc we could bring about it! We'll certainly give the twins a run for their money" -Tonks said with mischief

"Oh dear Merlin… I wonder if I should rather look for a different job. I don't know if I'll be able to withstand the opening of this Pandora's Box" -mumbled Minerva while pinching the bridge of her nose.

"So, you expect me to believe that I've been a shape shifter all of my life without even noticing? Whereas you two did in less than a month even though I've never changed, am I right?"

"First of all, Albus was the first one to get suspicious about it and later confirmed it by magic and experimentation. Secondly, you've morphed right in front of our eyes as we were speaking. You simply didn't seem to know that you've been doing it most of your life"

"And we are classed as Metamorphmagus, not shape shifters. Those are different." -Tonks added with a huff.

"Ok, whatever, Metamorphmagus. What do you mean I've morphed right now? I still feel and look the same"

"You do and you don't, because now I can finally see your lightning scar." -Minerva said as Harry reached with his hand and realized that for the first time since he had left the Dursleys' home it was there to be seen.- "Somehow… you believed so strongly that you were hiding it with magic channeled through your quartz that you managed to subconsciously morph it away. What I find curious is that you still hold your partial morphing over your left eye as you still carry that ember coloured ring on your iris."

"So you weren't joking Minnie when you said he was actually THE Harry Potter" -Tonks said as she laughed- "And everyone at school believe you are a fake! Oh dear Merlin, imagine their faces when they realize you are really YOU!"

"Woah woah woah, hold it right there! No one is finding out anything at all. These fanatics believe I had actually slayed a dragon when I didn't even know they actually existed. If they buy so much into this legendary hero they have created as Minerva told me, then I don't wanna know how they'll react when they find out its all lies. If they already disdain and ignore me for _usurping_ the name, I don't wanna find out what they'll do if they were to ever learn the truth."

"Uhm, Harry, I hate to break it to you but the magical community is rather small. There is no 'if' they find out, there's only 'when'." -Minerva said with a grimace- "Believe me that this castle has a thing for rumors, and something like that won't stay quiet for much longer."

"Yeah… once the right people get a whisper of it, everyone within the castle will know it by the end of the day" -added Tonks with a condescending look.

"Great…" -said Harry dejectedly- "Even so, can you two keep it quiet for as long as it is possible? I'd like to have real friends for once and I get the feeling it won't be the same once they find out."

Both Minerva and Tonks felt the sorrow emanating from the young man and they immediately knew he had had a rough childhood. - "Don't worry kiddo. I'll do anything for the family. The sane part of the family at least" -Joked Tonks.

"Family? What do you mean?"

"You did hear Minerva say it's a hereditary condition, right?" -Explained Tonks to a dumbfounded Harry- "Well, we are family! We are Merlin knows how many freaking times removed cousins!" -she added with a smile.

"Really? But how? I thought I was the last surviving Potter"

"Yup, my mother is Andromeda Tonks nee Black. And Minnie told me your grandma was Dorea Potter nee Black. Somewhere out there was a common relative, but who's counting?" -she said while smiling at Harry.

After a few moments of frozen astonishment, tears began forming as he launched himself over to Tonks, hugging her for dear life.

********(Minerva)*********

Minerva watched the scene develop with a warm smile.- 'Poor child… he lost it all to end a war that was not his and fate itself even deemed to torture him even more after that. To grow up without a family and without a true home for so long. I just hope that Nymphadora may be able to fix some of that… And I hope she manages to do it soon, because Albus has been getting more restless the last few months and he hasn't been so since way back at the beginning of the war. I fear he knows something lurks in the shadows and he won't deem to tell us until it's too late, even if he's already making us accomplice of whatever he hid in the third floor corridor. But whatever awaits, I'm inclined to believe it will drag the Potters into the middle of all of it again. I just hope I'll be able to provide him better help than I did his parents; or grandparents for that case. I owe it to them after all. It's been such a long time Dorea, my old friend, and yet it seems my debt remains unpaid.'

*************(Harry)***************

After a few minutes, Harry noticed that Tonks felt a little too tense. - 'I might be making this a little too awkward for her.' - "Ehm- I-... Sorry about that" - he mumbled pulling himself together.

"Don't worry Harry; I know where that came from."

"I told her only the highlights, that story is for you to tell on your own time." -Minerva explained before Harry could complain about it- "And I'll be glad to hear more of it whenever you want or need someone to do so"

"Me too Harry. Now you know there's still some family left out there for you, and I'll be here whenever you may want to shed light into the darkness of what I assume was your past" -added Tonks with a heartfelt smile.

"I don't know what you two are talking about… but thanks" -Harry was terrified of sharing most of his darkest past, but he was glad someone was offering help regardless- "But back to the stuff that matters… how come I never knew I am a Metamorphmagus?"

"I don't know to be honest… my parents always said that I have been changing colours since moments after I came into this world. Mom says dad got so scared when I first turned green that he almost dropped me. My morphing is highly linked to my emotions and perception of others. It took me quite a long time to acquire a body of my own image to maintain, as I constantly change without even realizing. Minnie has given me a lot of support on the matter since I joined Hogwarts" -Tonks said with a grateful smile.

"You know it's nothing Tonks, as it is a most intriguing skill for a Transfiguration Battlemage like myself. And now I get two of you!" -Minerva said with a look of pure joy and excitement.

"Don't worry Harry, she may sometimes see us as guinea pigs but she's always considerate about it and wonderful confidant once you get to know her" -said Tonks, to which Minerva cleared her throat- "Yes, you are a wonderful teacher and a remarkable scholar too"

"Thank you. Now, as I was saying something seems to have been sealing your Metamorphmagus abilities since your birth and it didn't show itself until you started experimenting with this quartz of yours. Speaking of which, I should give it back to you" -Minerva said handing over the quartz necklace back to Harry- "Me and Albus have both tested it and concluded that it's just a regular magical crystal of flawed quality. Whatever role it played in unsealing your ability seems to have been by pure chance. As your ability has been dormant for so long, Tonks and I believe this form really is your true biological body. It also fits what one would have expected a son of Lily and James to be, even if it's in the scrawny side." -Minerva explained and paused for a moment- "You should actually check in with Poppy later, so she can take a look at you Harry. I know you don't want to talk about it, but you've been certainly malnourished and it would be best to tackle that down as soon as possible."

"Okay" -Harry whispered without meeting her eyes.

"Minnie, quit getting sidetracked! You know what, never mind I'll take it from here. So, based on what we've seen and from my own personal experience, your ability has been sealed for so long that now you'll need to learn how to control it and work it out like a muscle. Our theory is that you are joining the party from the other end, so that by the time you master your morphing you will be able to maintain your own body without issues and be more impervious to emotional swings altering your appearance, if susceptible at all. It should also prevent you from being a klutz like me, which I think is totally unfair!" -complained Tonks as her hair turned green.

Minerva chuckled before adding- "All being said, once you are capable to garner enough experience to know how to morph with a minimum thought, you'll become what is considered the perfect mastery of a Metamorphmagus. This as you can see, is literally driving our dear Tonks green with envy."

"Maybe, maybe not. But in the meantime I get to gloat that I am your Jedi master and you kiddo, are my padawan" -Tonks tried to retort but it was clear she was still annoyed and envious.

"How long have you known? Because it seems to me that you've been given it too much thought already." -asked Harry.

"Well… Albus realized the previous Thursday, he told me during the weekend and I've quite enjoyed this week studying and testing you. It's actually the very first time of a Metamorphmagus has ever being dormant for longer than a few months after birth and I was quite eager for any discovery I could make. Of course that Nymphadora over here insisted in telling you as soon as I consulted her last Sunday. I was only able to bargain a week of observations" -Minerva said somewhat annoyed.

"So that's how it is Deputy Headmistress McGonagall. I wonder how would you feel if you suddenly found someone like you and had to keep it quiet, when you always believed there was scarce chance you would ever meet someone alike" -Tonks rebuked.

"Oh shush your mouth Nymph, I've told you that I only took the charge because someone has to beat some sense into the headmaster from time to time"

"I told you to stop calling me that! You-"

"Woahhh ladies! Please!" -Harry interrupted trying to reign in some kind of control. - "Now… getting back on track… how are we gonna do this?"

"Well, as I see it we could do as we've done with Tonks last year. She would come every Saturday for tea time and discuss her more recent experiences as I made some suggestions suggestions or give her exercises to perform on her free time along the week."

"More like I was your studying specimen" -Tonks mumbled

"I gave you fair advice. If I got the chance to witness and make a few notes on a young Metamorphmagus developing her abilities, it is completely unrelated. As from now on, I guess it would be beneficial if we were to continue our meetings amongst the three of us. Tonks should be able to provide you an insight on the practical side as I help from the theoretical point of view as well as keep records of your progress."

"So now she gets two guinea pigs" -Tonks mumbled again, earning an annoyed look from Minerva.

"How about we start tomorrow in the afternoon? As today is almost spent and dinner will be served shortly"

"Oh no, no way. I'm not walking out of here without learning how to hide this"

"Oh Merlin… I had forgotten about your fixation on keeping it a secret."

* * *

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 **A/N 01: I believe I've officially picked how is Harry's love life going to be. But I won't ever tell you until it's done MUAHAHAHA. All I can promise is that I'm really excited about it and I can't wait to write it all down. As of now I'll be changing the site's genre from general to adventure+romance.**

 **A/N 02: I have a deep love for lore over any games or books I read. So yeah, I'll probably include more stuff about basic magical theory and such as I do like to have it to make sense of some things (for example, why most characters throughout the story will only wield wands). But don't worry, that doesn't mean I would publish a whole chapter on magical theory and analysis.**


	6. 006 Shapeshifter

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its universe belong to JK Rowling or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just fool around with its universe and characters.**

 **A/N FAQ:**

 _ **I wanna thank my awesome brother for acting as my Alpha and my**_ **Batata** _**for proofreading part of my writing.**_

 **And I also want to thank every reader who takes that little extra time to review my fic. I really appreciate the feedback you provide.**

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 ** **.%%%****

* * *

 **The wandering path of a Battlemage**

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 **CHAPTER 006**

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It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, a week after he had learned about being a Metamorphmagus. It had been a real shock, but he couldn't see any downside to it. Not only he had learned he has a kick-ass ability, but he had also met a distant cousin! And she wasn't a royal arse as his mother's family.

Tonks was definitely a good company to be around. She seemed to find the way to make anything fun, even training him as Metamorphmagus. She had spent three days already helping him to grasp the basics along with Minerva, but all they had managed so far was to conceal his scar once again and learn to change his hair colour. He was definitely thankful about the scar, as it was the one thing that mattered to him. He still couldn't find the way to release the morph over his left eye no matter what they instructed him or which exercise they gave him. No matter how many times he tried to relax and let go, it would still remain with his emerald and ember left eye. It was a bit frustrating if he was being honest.

He had been trying to practice in the Ravenclaw common room, but he was afraid of reverting his morph over the scar instead. That's why he had decided to focus on something else for a while. He had been leafing through his Illusory Illusions book. He was glad that after three weeks of Magical Theory he was already able to grasp most of its content. That didn't mean he felt quite ready to start trying out spells, but he would certainly get ahead on its theory for now.

After a while, he decided to switch over to Mind Magic's when he came across an interesting chapter. He decided to ask Neville who was sharing the coffee table with him and Hermione.

"Hey Neville, is this Occlumency as impressive as it sounds?" -enthusiastically asked Harry

"What do you mean by impressive? I know magic is new for both of us, but this is the first time you get so excited over anything" -interjected Hermione.

"It's supposed to be very useful as well as important for pureblood families. It not only helps you guard your mind against legilimens attacks, but it supposedly helps you a lot to retain and recall memories. My grandma has been teaching me since I was seven, but I'm still not very good at it" -casually explained Neville.

"What?! It helps your studies?! Are you telling me that there is a magic for studying and no one told me about it?!" -asked an outraged Hermione.

"Or better yet, what is a legilimens attack? I don't like the sound of it after reading this bit on Occlumency" -Harry shifted the conversation back on track.

"Uhm… well, some skilled wizards can use this magic to get a peek at your thoughts without you even noticing or outright get inside your mind and see whatever they want. Occlumency will help you know when they try at the very least. It works as a sort of shield that you train and develop to defend against such attacks. It's taught to the pureblood children so other families can't steal family secrets." -Neville explained, freaking out both Hermione and Harry.

"So… Are you telling me that we could get mind raped and won't be able to even notice!?" -asked an enraged Hermione.

"No- I mean yes- I mean it shouldn't actually happen. It's not only against the law but severely frowned upon by the magical society. No one would risk such a thing! Unless there was some big reason… but I doubt any adult would care about the mind of a bunch of teens like us. Especially you two guys, who don't have any family magics they could try to steal"

"Oh, it's alright then! As long as it is a common courtesy we should be fine, right? Like who would even care about what I think! Besides, they would be highly criticized if I ever found them leafing through my mind. Oh wait! You said I wouldn't even know! Why-"

"Hermione, hold on before you try to chew Neville's head off." -Harry tried to defuse her- "Nev, is there any way you could help us? Teach us to gain awareness and maybe use it for study"

"Guys, I'm not really good at it. Grandma has been nagging me about it since forever and I still suck at it" -said Neville, but under Hermione's angry scowl he eventually relented- "Ok, I guess I could show you the exercises I'm supposed to carry out. Your book could also help if it has some tips in it. If we manage to advance on it we could always ask Minerva for further instructions."

"Great, thanks. See Hermione? You shouldn't berate on Neville when no one else even bothered to tell us about it"

"Yeah, and sorry about the way I explained it. I didn't mean to insult or disregard any of you" -Neville apologized.

Releasing a sigh of frustration, Hermione replied- "I know and I'm sorry too Nev. It's just that first I got excited about how much it could help my studies but then you came with all that pureblood nonsense that's going around the school…"

"Huh? What do you mean Hermione?" -asked Harry feeling a bit perplexed.

"Oh come on Harry. Don't tell me you didn't notice" -insisted Hermione- "I mean, none of our raven yearmates do, but you must have noticed it around the halls or at the Great Hall."

"Notice what?"

"The stares! I mean, I know it doesn't sound like much. But some of the Gryffindor's and every Slytherin we come across look at us with disdain! It took me a while to realize that most if not all of them were purebloods, but they seem to believe that we are worth less than they are! There are some that even seem disgusted with our mere presence. They look at us as if they were planning on different ways to get rid of us!"

"Ha! I guess I'm so used to it that I don't even notice it anymore…" -Harry said in a chuckle.

"Quit laughing! I'm being serious! I'm positive that at least some of the professors have seen it and said nothing about it! I can't understand why… joint classes haven't even started. So they wouldn't even know who we are yet…"

"Hermione, don't you worry. Whatever is up their arse, we shouldn't care. Besides, you might just be misreading things. I'm sure those people were still pissed about me 'stealing' their hero's name." -said Harry.

"Uhm… I wouldn't be so sure about that guys… I mean, there are probably some dunderheads that didn't get over the fact that it wasn't you who defeated You-Know-Who. That we probably won't ever meet The-Boy-Who-Lived" -said Neville causing Harry to snort- "But there are some pureblood families that didn't really leave the war behind"

"War? What do you mean by war? And why would they be resentful about the last war with us? We certainly aren't immigrants and even so, the last war was like WW2! Why would they hold a grudge against us for it?" -asked Hermione feeling a bit annoyed.

"No, I mean the last civil war"

"Even more so! There hasn't been a civil war in Britain for centuries!"

"Hermione, you forget that the Wizarding Community is way smaller than its muggle counterpart. I believe grandma told me that the muggles believed it was a terrorist attack" -explained Neville

"Hermione stop. Stop arguing whether there was a secret underground civil war or not. We didn't even know dragons were real until two months ago" -Harry intervened- "Now let's hear about this Blood War"

"Huh… how did you know it was called the Blood War?" -asked Neville

"Something came up during our introduction trip to Diagon Alley so Minerva explained some of it" -Harry explained covering his slip up

"Oh… I'm sorry something like that happened on your first visit to the magical world. Though I'm glad it didn't make you change your mind."

"Nev… thanks, but get on with the story"

"Oh yeah, sorry. Ok so, about 25 years ago began a civil war between the blood purists and… the decent society I guess. You-Know-Who began to rally the bigoted purebloods under their creed that muggleborns were stealing our magic and corrupting our society. Their belief was that it should be them ruling over both worlds and Muggles true place was beneath their feet. Of course there was a major part of our society that didn't buy into that. For three years You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters silently killed anyone who would openly oppose their ideals in the government or who could probe a problem when the silent war eventually broke out"

"Wait, Neville. It's the first I hear about this. Who was this You-Know-Who?" -interrupted Hermione

"Voldemort" -said Harry, getting a flinch from everyone within earshot- "It took me forever to get Minerva to spill the name. It was supposed to be a cursed word in some way during the war, but the fear remains even though the curse does not"

"Harry, please, avoid using it. It may not mean much to you, but some of us are still trying to overcome some of those old wounds" –Neville chastised him with hurt clear in his eyes. Harry felt slightly ashamed over downplaying his parents' misfortunes- "As I was saying, a third of the families from the Light were wiped out during those three initial years and their influence within the Ministry took a severe hit as well. For the next seven years the Death Eaters and You-Know-Who attacked everyone who was not a part of the Dark families, unless they worked some sort of deal to remain mostly neutral as did most of the Grey families. The Light faction fought back instead, either under the Ministry DMLE department or as part of Dumbledore's secret order. My parents were part of it, that's how I know of it. Anyway, it was terror on the streets and the Dark was about to win. That was until 14 years ago when You-Know-Who was finally vanquished when going after the remaining Potters. The tale goes that he killed his parents and then used the killing curse on Harry Potter, but he somehow survived it and destroyed him instead"

"Oh Harry! I'm so sorry! It must be so painful having to go through this story if you lost your parents to this damned bastard's war!" -Hermione exclaimed trying to get a hold of Harry's hand as her eyes welled up

"What? Oh no, do you remember that everyone thought I was some legendary-bad-ass-hero when we arrived? Apparently I share the name, but I don't have any scar on my forehead, see?" -lied Harry. He didn't like having to lie to the both of them, but he would rather prefer no one knew. And spilling the secret in the middle of the common room would be a terrible idea as well.

Neville wiped a tear on the corner of his eyes before clearing his throat and continuing- "Yes, they say that his scar was his only proof of having survived the killing curse. They supposedly took him into hiding after that for his secret training. Once he was done training he went out to explore the world, writing about his adventures whenever he had a chance" -he hesitated for a moment- "Harry, I know you've denied it plenty of times. But are you sure you are not really him? Because I have an old picture of my godmother holding me up, and she has the same… eyes that your right eye at least, I still don't get what's wrong with your left one. Anyway, she was Lily Evans and grandma said she and mom were best friends. My mom was supposed to be Harry's godmother too. We know for certain there was no other survivor to the Potter family line. And I know it could be possible for other non-magical Potters to be out there but…"

"But what?" -Harry retorted angrily and harshly- "Because not only am I named Harry but I'm an orphan as well? Is that why I'm supposed to be everyone's hero?!

"No Harry, listen I-"

"Harry…" -said Hermione trying to offer some support

"No Hermione. I guess everyone is right. I should just let them sculpt a trident, was it? Oh, right, sculpt a freaking lightning bolt on my forehead so that everyone can parade me around! Explaining me how I discovered a lost city before a thousand others. Or how I slayed a fucking dragon when I was twelve! Who would give a shit about who am I, I'm their legend after all! Their freaking saviour from a godforsaken war which I had to pay for with my father's and mother's blood!" -he ranted loud enough for everyone inside the common room to hear.

Shaken by his own outrage, Harry stormed off the Ravenclaw tower. He was unsure of what to do. He hadn't meant to lash out to Neville like that, but he guessed everything had been building up ever since he arrived. After turning into the corner, he rested his forehead against the window in an attempt to calm down. Barely a moment later Hermione showed up, apparently hot on his heels hunting him down.

"Harry what hell was that? Argh! What the fuck is wrong with both of you? With everyone!" -she complained- "I get that it may be bothersome that everyone expected you were someone else. But that is no reason to lash out on Neville who is just as new to this whole boarding school deal, even if he has been part of the magical world since birth. And why did he end up so shaken after you left… I hope Hannah manages to calm him down. But you! Stop being an arse and explain what has got into your head!"

"Look, Hermione… I'm sorry; I know I shouldn't have done that. But it's complicated… I-"

"Of course it's fucking complicated! People we don't know yet is already holding grudges against us over a war we were barely born into. We're both new to this whole magical thing and I know it can be overwhelming sometimes. Oh heck! I miss being at home having dinner with my parents sometimes. And then there's the whole thing of the legendary but missing Boy-Who-Lived who they believed it was supposed to be you. But the ones that really meet you know you are you! They-"

"No! See, that's the bloody problem!"

"What? Why? You just have to let people know you Harry and everything will die down eventually"

'Fuck! I really don't want anyone to know… but if I'm to be real friends with her and the rest they should know. Three others found out already… Minerva was right, it's only a matter of when it comes out and it won't be pretty if I don't tell them myself. At least I should tell to the closest of the ravens.' -having made up his mind, Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her into an empty classroom before locking the door.

"Harry what the fuck do you think you are doing? Let me out this bloody instant!" -Hermione demanded with a mix of terror and anger

"What? Oh, no! It's just something I have to show you. To tell you I mean! Don't worry, it's nothing creepy." -Harry explained while moving out of the doorway and leaning over one of the desks- "Or at least I really hope you don't find it creepy"

Hermione narrowed her eyes and stood close to the door, but instead of going for it she leaned against the wall and crosses her arms- "Ok. What is this secret for which you had to drag me into a classroom?"

Instead of answering, Harry closed his eyes and relaxed, releasing the morphing over his scar.- 'Ok, no door being banged open nor screams. That's good I guess' -He opened back his eyes to find Hermione staring at him with a raised eyebrow

"Harry, is this some kind of practical joke?"

"Wh- what do you mean?" -he really hadn't expected this kind of reaction.

"You've been reading on illusions so you could prank everyone into thinking you are really him, right? Come on Harry, you know it won't help at all. If anything it will make matters worse"

'Wow… I'll never really live to people's expectations if this is HER reaction' - "No, look. It's not magic. At least not exactly… here, hold my wand." -which only got her to narrow her eyes even more before he handed over his wand from his holster- "I meant my real wand! Stop misreading things!"

"I know, I'm just teasing you now" -she said with a grin as it slowly turned into a face of shocking surprise as he started switching into different hair colours- "How- oh… so you gave me a fake wand, is that it? Shit…" -she said after flicking his wand and getting some feeble sparks- "Harry… what is going on? Things that I cannot understand tend to freak me out. I definitely can't understand how you turned your hair green and purple at the same time if I'm holding your wand."

"Listen, I know it may sound weird but I've recently found out that I'm a Metamorphmagus"

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It's like a shapeshifter but-"

And then madness unleashed itself. She started to scream her lungs out while frantically trying to unlock the door. Once she managed to open it, she barged right into Neville who was standing on the other side of the doorway. Apparently he was looking for them when he heard her screams. She half cried, half screamed and half explained that a skin walker had killed Harry and taken his place. Harry couldn't understand how everything had turned out so wrong. Before he knew it, Neville had tackled him to the ground and started trying to knock him unconscious. Apparently him being with a new lightning scar and his hair half dyed green-half purple had been proof enough of Hermione's story.

"Nev wait! I said I'm LIKE a shapeshifter! I'm a Metamorphmagus!" -Harry pleaded which got Neville to stop and consider it at least.

Neville decided to the sensitive thing and punched him in the face once more, finally knocking him out.

***************(Hermione)**************

"Hermione" -Neville panted- "did he actually say Metamorphmagus?"

Once she was sure _Harry_ was truly unconscious she managed to calm down enough to answer- "I think he did, but when I asked him to explain he mentioned being a shapeshifter and I freaked out. I used to dig a lot into mythical stories and legends when I was bored back at home."

"Ok… great… but just to be sure, go get Minerva. She's the Transfiguration professor so she should be able to tell the difference. Take both our wands and lock us in. If you come back and something is fishy, don't you dare let him get away with anything. Even if he looks like me, ok? I'll try to make sure he stays unconscious and can't get away"

A couple of minutes later she had finally managed to locate Minerva and drag her back to the classroom without bothering to explain, no matter how much she demanded for one. She was glad nothing seemed to have changed. Though that didn't mean she was ready to let her guard down.

"Nev, what's the codeword for everything is fine?"

"What? What codeword? We didn't agree on any"

"Thank goodness. I know we didn't, but he wouldn't have"

"Mr Longbottom! Mrs Granger! Care to explain me what is going on? And why are you holding down an unconscious Harry? What the hell is going on?"

Hermione stood a little stiffer as Neville was clearly doubting whether he should get off _Harry_ or not. Hermione decided to explain as she had been part of the whole debacle from the beginning. "Professor, I was checking on Harry after a few harsh words were said in the common room. He then dragged me into this empty classroom and said he wanted to show me something. Before I knew it, he had changed hair colours and the scar appeared on his forehead. He said he was a something-magus but when he tried to explain he said he was a shapeshifter and I freaked out. Then I-" -Hermione was finally interrupted by Minerva's laughter.

Receiving confused looks from both teens, Minerva explained- "I guess I can figure out the rest, thank you Hermione. Silly boy... we told him it wasn't shapeshifting plenty of times. I guess we should have explained why. Neville, please step aside now, its fine. Yes he is a Metamorphmagus, although a new one to it thus he's not familiar with the differences against a Skin Walker. He is also the real Harry Potter." -She casted a quick _enervate_ to Harry once Neville had moved and he immediately started to stir awake while rubbing his head- "And yes, I mean THE Harry Potter. I guess he was finally ready to come clean when things got out of hands. Or at least he was prepared to tell Hermione."

Minerva watched with amusement as both teens trying to process all the new information before carrying on- "I won't dock you any points as your reaction would have been proper Neville, if Harry _had_ _been_ a true Skin Walker. If anything I should give you a lesson on how to properly subdue and restrain one, as you wouldn't have been able to do so with mere punches if he were the real deal. But as we haven't taught you any magic yet and supposedly wouldn't know any, I'll grant 5 points to Ravenclaw for the joint effort and quick thinking in subduing an alleged dangerous being. Please escort Harry for a quick check on the infirmary once you are all done talking. I hope to see you all still together at dinner. I'll let you all to it, as I have another Metamorphmagus to hunt down and a wager to collect" -she said and walked out the door, leaving two dumbfounded teens gaping and one other student in a state of semi-consciousness lying on the floor.

***************(Harry)**************

Harry opened his eyes upon hearing a door clicking shut. His head was throbbing in pain. Neville had really put an effort in knocking him out.

"Guys, please, I'm being serious. I really am a Metamorphmagus" -which seemed to snap them out of their stupor.

"Yeah we know, Minerva just told us" -said Hermione as she kicked his feet- "Asshole, try not to scare the shit out me next time."

"Why did you freak out though?"

"Because you said you were a shapeshifter dumbass" -said Hermione, but upon seeing Harry's perplexed face she realized that wouldn't be enough- "Legend says that shapeshifters, better known as Skinwalkers, had to slay their entire kin to become one. Not only that, but they also have to hunt and wear the target skin before they can turn into it. And that includes humans Harry"

"Oh… so that's why Tonks didn't want me to call us shapeshifters…" -Harry said before noticing Neville shuffling his feet with a slight twitch on the eye- "And what's up with you Nev?"

That got him a kick to the ribs from Neville- "She also said you were really you! You complete arse! I was looking for you to apologize about pushing on the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing before everything went to hell. You pulled all that shitty drama on me when I was actually right!"

"Ok, I guess I deserve some of it. But are you mental? Do you still believe all that dragon slaying and Atlantis bullshit after you just knocked me out with a couple of swings?" -he said, taking Neville's offered hand to stand up. He took a seat at one of the desks before he got too dizzy and ended up back on the floor.

Harry proceeded to recount how he really was Harry Potter. But instead of the whole legendary tales that had been made up about him, he told them how he had been muggle raised and completely unaware of the wizarding world until not so long ago. He told them about his first accidental encounter with magic all those years ago and how it had eventually lead to him discovering he was a Metamorphmagus and the subsequent training sessions.

"Shit… This… you…" -stammered Neville

"I know. Not so epic now, is it?"

"Yeah… can't believe I really bought into all that bullshit now that I think of it. I'm actually bigger than you. Unless you were doing a full body disguise?"

"Nope, it's just the scar. I've barely learned how to change my hair colour so far" -he said turning it a fiery red before going back to his messy black hair.

"Harry… why did you hide it from us though?" -asked Hermione

"Because… when I met you on the train it just didn't come up. Well, Ron did ask about it but he was rather… rude on how he did, so I thought I could let him play the fool for the moment. Then that Malfoy ponce showed up prancing around like he owned the place and it was like the same thing. I was going to tell you all once we were sorted into Ravenclaw, but the Chang girl assumed I was a fake when I tried to correct her on all the made up stuff. After that I sort of thought that I would rather try to get some real friends before anyone found out it was really me. I've been on my own for most of my life… But I did know I didn't want friends to hang out with me for anything else than myself. I've had a fake group of friends before and it really sucked, they would never stick up for me when things went to shit. Minerva had warned me about how much some wizards and witches buy into the Boy-Who-Lived thing. Once I had seen it for myself, I didn't want to end up with the wrong group of _friends_."

"And… you were gonna tell me first?" -Hermione asked with an astonished face.

"Well yeah. You've been good and true to me since we've met so I guess you-"

Harry couldn't finish as his breath was crushed out of his lungs due to the pressure of Hermione's hug. After a few desperate tapings on her shoulder trying to communicate that he was running out of oxygen, she loosened up the hug and took a few steps back. Tears had welled up in the corner of her eyes, which she tried and failed to hide.

"Sorry, it's just that I- I… I didn't have any friends at school" -she finally admitted in a mumble.

Harry took her by the shoulders and gently squeezed them, trying to convey some comfort and reassurance- 'Damn, what am I supposed to do now?' -thankfully for him, Neville was blunt as hammer interrupting them.

"Wait, so… was I just a happy coincidence? Were you even planning to tell me?"

"Ohhh… are you jealous Nev? Would you like a hug too? Don't you worry dickhead; I was going to tell you sooner than later. Shit has been building up too much for me lately, which is why I ended up snapping at you. I wouldn't have been able to go on much longer without telling the two of you at the very least."

"What do you mean by the two of us? Aren't you gonna tell the rest?" -asked Hermione

"No no no no… and neither will the two of you. Things have settled down for the most part of me being the _fake_ Harry Potter. And I don't want everything starting up again so soon if I come clean with the rest of the house. Minerva and Tonks were pretty clear that once the wrong ear gets a whisper of it, everyone would know by the end of the day. So it either stays between the three of us or we try your luck as guinea pigs for the memory charm I've read about today."

"Nope, no need to test my luck. I don't care if you want to keep it a secret" -Neville quickly gave in.

They had to stare a few moments at Hermione before she relented- "Fine! But I believe it's totally unfair to the rest of the ravens. We're all from the house of the wise, they should be able to keep it a secret"

"No way. If someone becomes close enough, I will. But I won't be telling them just because we share colours. Now, how about you two lead me to the infirmary. This headache is really killing me"

"Oh yeah! Minerva told us to make sure you got there!" -Hermione remembered.

Hermione offered him her arm for support which he was thankful for, because as if his throbbing had not being enough he went all dizzy as soon as he stood up. Running a mental check to make sure that his hair was back to normal and his scar hidden, they headed for the door which Neville was holding open for them.

"So… is your eye part of your of disguise as well?" -casually asked Neville which caused Harry to stop dead in his track and stare at him.

"What part of keeping it secret you didn't get? Or should we try how easy that memory charm is? Speaking of which, Hermione can I have my wand back?"

"Geez, sorry. But we could keep it vague and talk about something else if someone gets close enough to eavesdrop" -Neville apologised while they both took their wands back and placed them on their respective holsters.

"Alright, fine. But not a single direct mention about any of it. We're not referring to me as anything other than Harry and definitely no mentions of my ability. Or I will really be trying out that charm, are we clear?"

"Yeah yeah, sure thing" -said Neville a bit too dismissively for Harry's taste.

He looked at Hermione who hadn't agreed yet, causing her to sigh in frustration- "Yes Harry, we won't talk about your lack of legendary childhood and your Met- Ouch!" -she was cut short as Harry had pinched her arm before she could say anything else.

"I'm being serious" -he said narrowing his eyes

"Yes, I know. And I wouldn't have said anything even without the threat. Now quit being arse and start moving. Or I'll let you stumble your own way down to the infirmary" -she said rubbing her arm

"Ok, thanks. And sorry. But yeah, let's go, I feel like I'm going to faint again."

"Ok, but you need to stay awake as we are definitely not carrying you all the way there" -she said as they started moving again- "So… for real. Why do you keep it bi-colour? It's not exactly discreet you know"

"It's one of the things we've been working on hard with Tonks and Minerva. But no matter how much we try, I cannot relax enough to release the morph in my eye."

"So you're saying it's your true eye?" -asked Neville

"I- We…"

"Are you telling me that you've worked so much under the assumption that it's a morph that you didn't even try to change it into full green?" -asked Hermione somewhat exasperatedly.

This caused Harry to miss a step and for Neville to start laughing- "So you didn't. I can't believe it. Your life might not have been as exciting but certainly seems to be entertaining" -which provoked a half-hearted smack on his arm from Harry

"Ok fine. It didn't cross our mind. It's quite different the mental process I have to go through in order to change or reverse. Now let's talk about something else for now as the halls are getting crowded" -he said while considering if it would even be a good idea to change it now after three weeks at school already.

"I guess you could have inherited some kind of weird heterochromia… or maybe it's being affected by the fact that you are also a wizard… or maybe it is because of-"

"Hermione! I said drop it for now. We can discuss this later" -Harry interrupted her from her outloud thinking.

After a long walk through the castle, they were finally approaching the Medical Wing.

"Gods, why do they place the infirmary in a corner of the goddamn castle? Shouldn't it be in its centermost halls? So anyone with an emergency has a better chance of getting there?"

"Quit whining Harry, it's us carrying your lame arse around" -said Neville

"Hey! It was your fault in the first place that I even need to get there!"

"Shut up both of you and get inside already. I might even ask for something for myself" -complained Hermione

They walked inside the infirmary were rows of medical beds were aligned across both walls. From the office on the other side of the room, Poppy Pomfrey came out fixing her healer robes. Upon noticing the three of them she pinched nose bridge and sighed while pointing to a bed next to her.

"Mr. Potter, we're not even through the first month of classes and it's the second time already you are here for assistance. And you first years haven't even started using magic yet."

"Second time? Have you been ill Harry?" -asked Hermione

"It's… well…" -Harry was unsure about revealing this. But he really wanted to be able to rely on them- 'But this would raise too many questions' - "It's about a nutritional potion. It's because I'm a bit too much on the skinny side, as Neville has fantastically proven today"

Poppy gave him a disappointed look but held her tongue. He was thankful for the confidentiality agreement of healers- "And what in Merlin's name have you been doing today? Boxing? I really hope you didn't get into in any fight the three of you"

"I… we… uhm…" -Neville struggled for words. Harry was thankful he would at least try to keep his secret.

Harry checked around to be sure that no one else had arrived to the infirmary after them before clarifying- "I finally learned my lesson about introducing myself as a shapeshifter. They kinda freaked out and overreacted before knocking me out"

"Harry, didn't you say it was a close kept secret?" -asked Hermione

"Well, yeah. But she is the healer and I did ask her for that potion. I don't know what kind of complications could bring my ability"

"I've told you already that it doesn't make any treatments different for you. But it is good that you did anyway. As well as I'm glad to see that you've began to trust others with some of your secrets at least" -said Poppy, earning Harry a curious look from Hermione

"Can you get me fixed already? My head is really killing me" -quickly said Harry, diverting Hermione from any further questioning.

"Don't get cocky with me young man. And this should teach you a lesson about picking your words carefully" -said Poppy before casting a diagnosis spell on Harry- "Ugh, nasty concussion. I'm surprised you are not still unconscious"

"We called in Minerva to check if he was really a Skin Walker and she used a spell to wake him up once she reassured us about Harry" -explained Hermione a bit ashamed of herself and how she had handled the situation

"Well, no need to worry. A quick spell for the swelling, a potion for the headache and he will be fine before dinner" -she said and proceeded to work.

After casting the spell, Poppy went to her office and came back with two vials of potions which she handed to Harry- "Here, drink both of them. The red one will help with your headache. The green one is the nutrition potion which I was able to finish sooner than I had expected. As I told you before it will actually increase your intake, absorption and metabolism of food. So your appetite should double at the very least. Make sure to eat until you are satiated or it won't be able to help you at all. It's magic but biology is still tricky in some ways."

After drinking the red potion he immediately started feeling way better. Relishing in the pain free sensation, he drowned the second one which he thought it could definitely do with a mint flavour as it definitely tasted horribly.

"Thanks Poppy. I'm feeling way better already"

"No problem. Remember you will have to come back for another dose of the nutrition potion every fortnight until you reach your proper body mass. Now off you go, it was just a simple concussion so there's no need to remain under observation. And remember you will need to eat a lot more from now on"

They thanked her once more before heading off for dinner. Harry ended up eating enough food to endure weeks back at the Dursleys'. His housemates had definitely been shocked to his newfound appetite.

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 **A/N 01: "A Skinwalker (also known as shape shifter) [...] The Skinwalker is (or was) a shaman in it's human life. As a rite of passage, he kills his entire family to drain the souls. He then can transform into any animal it feels like, and any person. It has the ability to mimic voices that are familiar to you, to draw you out. When hunting a Skinwalker, talk to the others in your group only on Walky-Talkies. The only weakness it supposedly has is an aversion to silver when it is in it's animal state. If you injure a Skinwalker and meet a person with the same injury, it is best not to trust that person. At all" That's the myth version I'm working with.**


	7. 007 First week

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its universe belong to JK Rowling or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just fool around with its universe and characters.**

 **A/N FAQ:**

 _ **I wanna thank my awesome brother for acting as my Alpha and my**_ **Batata** _**for proofreading part of my writing.**_

 **And I also want to thank every reader who takes that little extra time to review my fic. I really appreciate the feedback you provide.**

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 ** **.%%%****

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 **The wandering path of a Battlemage**

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 **CHAPTER 007**

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It was early Monday morning but Harry and most of his housemates were excited. Today they were finally starting with the the regular classes after four weeks of an intensive Magical Theory course. They had been given their schedules during breakfast and all of ravens have arrived early to charms class which they would be sharing with the Gryffindors and teached by their Head of House. Once all the Gryffindors had finally filled in, a tiny professor climbed the stand in front of the class where his desk and blackboard were in place.

Closing the door with a flick of his wand, he addressed the class- "Good morning kids, allow me to introduce myself to those of the Ravenclaw house. I'm Gryffindors' Head of House and Charms Professor, Filius Flitwick. I'm a certified Charms Battlemage and a retired Dueling Champion, so I hope you will appreciate our time together as I'll be your Charms teacher throughout your whole tenure here at Hogwarts. As all of-" -Flitwick was interrupted from a bang on the door. Someone had apparently ran into it while trying to hurriedly get into the classroom- "I believe those might be our missing lions"

With another flick of his wand the door was unlocked and opened itself. On the floor across the doorway lay Ron Weasley rubbing his face. Next to him stood another boy with black hair having a clear inner struggle; he was having hard time deciding whether he should laugh at his fallen friend or take an apologetic act to appease the irritated professor. - "Mr. Boot, Mr. Weasley… I'm glad you finally decided to join us. Although I thought I had made myself clear at out last Magical Theory class that I would be locking the door five minutes after the bell so you would consider arriving on time. Even if I'm your Head of House, I won't tolerate this tardiness throughout the year. Am I clear?"

Finally being able to suffocate his laughter, Terry Boot answered as he offered a small bow as apology- "Sorry professor, I promise it won't happen away" -Ron had finally stood up and mimicked the gesture.

"Make sure that you don't. Get inside already, I believe there are some seats left at the back" -getting a look of relief from both of them.

"As i was saying before the interruption, you've all recently been through four weeks of Magical Theory. So I thought we could begin our class with the practical part before analysing the spells in the second period. First thing, we'll try the most basic of charms, the _lumos_ charm." -he explained the movements and invited the class to try it out. After five minutes of a horrible performance coming from most of the class he called for attention.

"I see… so it seems you all intend to play the same buffoon act as every first year class attempts. I know those of you raised on the magical world have probably performed magic before in your respective homes where the Ministry's wards can't detect you. And I'm pretty sure all of you have done so since you've arrived at the castle or at the very least after the first week of classes, once you realised that by necessity you wouldn't be able to be detected inside the school grounds. So let's stop wasting our time and show me what you've been able to accomplish so far"

That being said, every raven proved able to cast _lumos_ without the least of efforts, Hermione going as far as to cast it in different colours. Most of the lions were able to accomplish the task as well, although some managed in their third attempt. Meanwhile, Ron and Terry raised their hands at the back of the classroom calling for Flitwick's attention- "Very good everyone, I guess we'll be able to speed things up after all. Yes Mr Weasley, Mr Boot?"

"Uhm… sir, could you repeat the wand movements if you please?" -asked Ron burning red with embarrassment

Flitwick sighed deeply before asking- "May I ask what have the two of you been doing with all of your free time this past four weeks?"

"We've been playing chess as much as we could before we were given any homework. We also did some snapping gobstones and discussed who had the best chances of winning this year's Quidditch championship. We believe that everyone has a fair chance, but in my opinion the Chudley-"

"Thank you Mr Weasley, I can imagine the research you've had to carry. The-"

"Thank you professor. Some others wouldn't believe the importance of it" -Ron interrupted

"I can only imagine. The wand movements are as follow" -after fifteen minutes of an uphill battle to get the both of them to understand and repeat the wand movements. After they had barely accomplished to cast a dim light, Flitwick advised them to further practice the spell on their spare time before moving on.

By the end of their first period, they had gone through a bunch of basic spells such as _alohomora_ and the levitation charm. On the second period of the class, they went through their theoretical analysis as well as some minor tweaks and modifications they should be able to perform after some practice.

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Harry was sitting at the Ravenclaw table waiting for lunch to pop up as he discussed the Charms class with Neville and Hermione.

"That was awesome! I can't wait to learn more spells at our other classes! Hermione, when did you learn the alterations for _lumos_ and all the other charms? I've barely had any energy left to read through the basics after our last two weeks of Magical Theory. Minerva had been giving us so much stuff that my brain has been refusing to read any new information" -asked Harry excitedly

"Well… uhm… I might have read half of it as soon as I got back from Diagon Alley with my books. I didn't quite understand most of it, but I was able to grasp the very basic and speed through it since we got here"

"Wow, you two really are excited about Charms. How far ahead are you in our other classes?" -asked Neville as he chuckled

"Nev… I meant I've read the first half of all of our classes. It was hard to make sense of the books after a certain point." -she said making their jaws drop

"But… that's like… when did Minerva picked you up for your Introduction Day and shopping?" -asked Harry. He hadn't had put much effort into reading his books once he had realised it was impossible for him to compare the wand theory to his experience with his quartz, and don't even mention trying to apply one to the other. Besides, Hedwig had consumed a fair amount of his time on those couple of days.

"Exactly two weeks before our train ride. I had been so amazed by everything on Diagon Alley that I couldn't help myself once I got home" -explained Hermione before getting embarrassed- "Mum had to actually drag me downstairs for a late dinner while Dad hid my books. They kept a closer control over them after I had skipped lunch and tea that day."

This got both of the boys to crack up laughing at her tale, provoking a look of annoyance from Hermione- "Merlin's beard, no wonder you aced all of them. I had been around magic all of my life, so I haven't been as I excited. Although grandma did try to teach me a few things before coming to school and I kept practicing since we arrived. I still think I should be doing way better with all the time I've spent on it" -said Neville

"Don't worry Nev, we'll catch up with her soon enough. So… what do we have after lunch?" -asked Harry

"We have Introduction to Care of Magical Creatures with one Rubeus Hagrid… isn't that the enormous groundskeeper?" -said Hermione with furrowed brows.

"Hermione he's a half-giant, not enormous" -corrected Neville

"Oh… but… how did his parents…?" -asked Hermione with a blush which got Harry and Neville to crack up once they understood the implied question

"I have no fucking idea" -said Harry causing both of them to burst with laughter again

"Idiots…" -mumbled Hermione- "Stop it already. What are you to picking as extracurricular activities for the last period?"

"Urgh… I don't know. Nothing really gets my attention even though we are supposed to pick at least one twice a week anyway" -reasoned Neville letting out a sigh- "But I guess I'll try my luck with music. What about you Harry?"

"I'm gonna need to burn some energy soon or I'll go nuts of so much seating around. I guess I'll try the Wizarding Close Combat class. I mean… it can be that hard if there is a wizard teaching it after what I've seen at the Diagon Alley and the train station" -said Harry with a laugh

"Laugh at us all you want, but you'll see the comforts of magic soon enough. But I don't think I've seen any of the older ravens going or coming from it, so I guess it must be pretty lame" -said Neville as some of the older year guys snorted but didn't turn their way.

"What about you Hermione?" -asked Harry

"Oh, I'll be joining the rest of the raven girls for Art and I'll be taking Muggle Art as well. We all agreed on the Art class as soon as we found out as a means of girl bonding. Although I'm kind of dreading the fact as I'm always with the two of you"

"You shouldn't worry about it Hermione. It'll be fine and soon enough you'll be getting along" -Harry reassured her with a smile.

She certainly had not been pleased with his comment, but before she had any time to answer the food showed up and they forgot all about any kind of conversation. Especially Harry as he was having triple rations due to the hunger the nutrition potion provoked him; to most of the ravens amusement. They found the scene quite funny, such a scrawny boy having such an appetite even if the potion was slowly showing its effects.

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Introduction to Care of Magical Creatures had been fun. Hagrid apparently was not the sharpest of the bunch; but he was definitely an angel for his size and also had a knack for magical creatures. Today they had studied bowtruckles which were some funny little twig-like creatures. Hagrid had disheartedly explained that they would only be meeting the tamest of creatures in compliance with an approved list by the Headmaster and the Deputy Headmistress. The upside was that he would be allowed to teach them the theoretical side of the most dangerous creatures he wouldn't have been able to procure anyway, such as dragons and nundus.

After class, he had parted ways with Neville and Hermione and headed for Wizarding Close Combat. Curiously enough, it was located across from the infirmary which seemed to be bustling with students getting ready for a class.

The classroom inside looked more like a dojo. The floor and walls were covered in mahogany wood. The walls were lined with racks of all sorts of weapons, ranging from swords to axes, maces and spears; although it was clear that different kinds of swords were the dominant element.

Across from the entrance of the room sat a massive man in a cross legged position with his eyes closed as if he were in deep meditation. On closer inspection, he began to doubt whether he was truly human. The man had a massive muscular build with shoulder length black hair. His granite-hewn facial features emanated a mixed feeling of cruelty yet also serenity. Once everyone had finally arrived, a dark pulse coming from him closed the door as the man opened his eyes, revealing they were jet black onyx.

"Welcome everyone, I'm Lorcan Salvaterre and I'll be your combat instructor." -he said with a deep rough voice, standing up and taking a deep breath through his nose before carrying on- "I see we have our usual lot. The house of lions, that foolishly believes that the potential for bravery equals physical strength. The badgers house, which come together as group because a few were determined to try. Three ravens who apparently forgot their wits. And let's not forget the unreplaceable complete absence of the house of snakes, who foolishly believe themselves above the need of mastering their body." -he said causing some looks of indignation and raised brows. Lorcan gave them all a toothy grin- "I promise I'll relentlessly train you until you are the masters of your own bodies and are able to reach your true potential. But I also promise I won't be gentle and I won't expect to even see the half of you by the end of the week. Now start running along the classroom until I tell you to stop. And stop eyeing the weapons, as none of you will be touching them until your sixth year and I deem you ready."

Forty minutes later, Harry finally fell to the floor panting for breath. No one had been able to outlast the hour warm up. Some had fallen unconscious with the exercises after all that running, Roger being one of them. Su Li had been the only one to last as much as he had, before falling on her back struggling for breath.

"So the two ravens take the prize" -said Lorcan standing up from his meditation position- "I should say I'm surprised, but the girl definitely showed self discipline since we began. And you kid were aided by whatever potion you've been taking, there's no way you would have lasted this much without the extra energy it has allowed you to muster." -he said with a grin.

Another dark pulse shot from him and went through the door. Moments later, Poppy came through the door followed by her healer students. She took a look at the exhausted of everyone lying on the floor before turning to stare at Lorcan.- "Mr Salvaterre, I've requested plenty of times for you to call me as soon as they drop from exhaustion, not once you are done we every last one of them."

"Mrs Pomfrey, I assure you no one has been at risk at any given moment, I've made sure of it." -he answered with a grin. Harry had some serious doubts on how he could claim to have done so while meditating with his eyes closed throughout the whole class.

"I seriously doubt that, but I'll keep giving you the benefit of the doubt since you have yet to bring in late a student in critical condition. Now, _locomotor corpus_ on everyone and take them into the infirmary. Careful with the doorways and any other obstacles" -instructed Poppy before casting the spell on Harry and Su Li and taking them to the infirmary across the hallway.

"So that's why one is across from the other" -muttered Harry

"Indeed. I've been forced to relocate the Hospital Wing since he and Rowan arrived. Lorcan has a tendency to tire his students into unconsciousness, though he has yet to jeopardize the life of any of them. Having to carry his whole class over to the infirmary at the centre of the castle was starting to prove too much trouble. He has also allowed me to take extra students for Healing Studies by providing more than sufficient patients for everyone to train, even if rarely anyone is in any true danger"

Harry was relishing in the comfort of the hospital bed as Poppy instructed his class in how to proceed. He had long ago closed his eyes and was about to drift into slumber when he was interrupted by his assigned healer-trainee.

"Wotcher cousin! I see you've finally met our revered combat sergeant" -Harry opened his eyes to find an annoyingly cheerful Tonks.

"Shut up and let me sleep Nym. OUCH!" -Harry twisted in his bed under the pain of sore muscles being harshly poked- "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please! It won't happen again, I swear it Tonks!"

She relented after his pleads for mercy- "You better, or I'll refrain from giving you the pain reliever potion. Now, open up and swallow all of it" -she said pushing a vial of potion to his lips. Soon enough, the soreness began to fade as his muscles relaxed making him release a sigh of relief- "Ohh… you like that, don't you?" -she said with mischief

"Stop it you perverted shifter" -which got him a smack on his shoulder, but this time it didn't bring any pain due to the potion allowing him to offer a cocky smile instead

"I see that Minnie was wrong, you haven't learnt your lesson after all" -she said while making sure he hadn't strained a muscle or sustained any other injury- "Though I'm glad to see that you took heed of my warning on your body mass"

"That doesn't mean I actually understand it"

Tonks sighed with exasperation- "I've told you already. Even if magic can conjure new things through Transfiguration, Metamorphmagus can't do so with our bodies. We can alter our selves, but never conjure new mass. You could technically morph more muscles but at great risks, as you are only relocating muscle from one tissue to the other. And that is what makes it so dangerous, as you could inadvertently be taking it from your heart and land you into a fatal situation."

"Ok. So going hulk can get me a nut sized heart, killing me in the process. I get that, but why do I need to train with Lorcan? I could just avoid shifting too much muscle"

"Because you are still too skinny and you could end up messing up without meaning to do so. This way you will have more room for mistakes"

"Fine, I promise I will keep going to Lorcan's classes. Besides, it could prove to be an advantage back in Surrey" -he said with haunted eyes.

"Don't you worry Harry. I promise I'll talk to mum and see what we can do about it" -but his mood didn't lighten. Tonks would love to get to know more about his past if only to help him out, but this was neither the time nor place; and she didn't want him to stay in a gloomy mood- "Besides, all this training would help you develop your body, making it a great boon for the ladies in the not so distant future"

Whether it was the idea or the sultry wink that accompanied it, it got him blushing hard- "Yeah… I guess that wouldn't be bad either"

Harry couldn't withhold the yawn coming his way- "Poppy said we could offer a pepper-up to get you guys ready for dinner. But I believe the best way to get you back on track is always a quick nap" -Tonks said as she closed the curtains surrounding the bed- "You can take it later if you still need it. And as your appointed healer-trainee, I'll remain by your side to make sure nothing happens to you. Now make some room, you wouldn't want me to be uncomfortable, don't you?" -she said as she pushed him over to one side of the bed.

"And I guess it has nothing to do with you wanting to take said nap, isn't it?"

She managed to fake a face of shocking indignation to his accusation for only a moment before she snorted and began to chuckle as she climbed to the bed- "I guess I wouldn't even be able to sell that one to your prefect Penny. Now make room and share that pillow as there is no way I'm napping by your smelly feet"

Harry finally realised that Tonks would be getting real close, as the beds on the infirmary certainly weren't meant for more than one. Tonks finally settled sideways facing his side, making him feel extremely nervous as he could feel feel her breasts resting against his arm and he could have sworn they felt bigger than what they looked before. If he had had a cool mind, he would have remembered who he was dealing with and that she was actually capable of doing so. Tonks cuddled up to Harry with a grin, as she enjoyed teasing him on every occasion she could. Despite his uneasiness with the situation, exhaustion and the relaxing effects of the potion quickly overcame him and he drifted into a pleasant sleep.

Two hours later, Harry woke up startled due to the rattling of the curtains being pulled open. He opened his bleary eyes and wiped the drool to come to face with Poppy, who pinched the bridge of her nose as she sighed in frustration.

"I should say that I'm surprised to find Ms. Tonks lazing around, but I'm really not" -said Poppy as she proceeded to prod Tonks with a finger in order to wake her up as Harry lay completely still in a state of panic- "Don't you worry Mr. Potter, as I would bet my career that this has been her doing"

"Wha?" –Said a sleepy Tonks as she struggled to stretch and rub her eyes open at the same time

"Ms. Tonks, I believe I instructed everyone that the standard treatment ought to be the painkiller and a small dose of pepper-up. So why do I find Mr. Potter sleeping? And why are you sharing his bed?"

Tonks sat on her side of the bed as she still struggled to wake herself up- "You've also said multiple times that a natural recovery is always the best treatment. So I figured I would let him rest for a while before dinner and I could still dose him some pepper-up if it wasn't enough"

"I see… but I fail to understand how that lead you to decide it was fine to share his bed" -she said with narrowed eyes

"I am his assigned healer-trainee and I wanted to make sure he made a full recovery, as you also insist on keeping a close look after treatment" -she said with a cheeky grin- "Plus I figured I could use some recovery as well, as it has been a long day for me too"

"Although the proper aftercare of a patient is indeed important, I fail to understand how you could deemed it to be necessary in a simple case of physical exhaustion" -she said with a raised eyebrow- "Now, enough of this nonsense. Dinner is about to be served so the two of you should get down to the Great Hall. I'll let this one slide as Mr. Potter was a patient, you are your usual self and I'm confident nothing inappropriate happened within my Medical Wing. But if I ever come to have of the slightest suspicion that it has been otherwise, I promise you two will beg for a month detention with professor Snape instead. Am I crystal clear?"

"Clear as rain" -said Tonks standing up in salute as if she were in the army. Harry remained catatonic.

Poppy sighed in frustration once more- "You and those twins will be the downfall of this school. Give Harry a few drops of pepper-up, as his body might be rested but his mind seems to definitely need a jump start"

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Despite his late nap, Harry had slept like a log once the slight effect of the pepper-up wore off. After breakfast, Harry, Neville and Hermione had rushed off to their Tuesday Potions class as they had been warned that professor Snape could get really nasty for the slightest reasons. They were sitting next to each other in their respective cauldrons as they waited for the last of the snakes to get inside the classroom, as every raven had been been forewarned thus they were all already sitting.

As soon as the bell for class rang, the door slammed shut and the professor shimmered into existence sitting on his desk. He stood up without making the slightest sound and stood in front of his desk, as his robes billowed behind him in a nonexistent wind.

"I am Professor Severus Snape, Slytherin Head of House and the Potions Master within the school. I'll be soon the youngest Potions Mage in the latest centuries, so I dare any fool to question my abilities." -he introduced himself. He gave an icy stare to each and every student within the classroom before following up with a speech- "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through the human veins, bewitching the minds, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper to death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach"

Harry couldn't understand why, but Snape seemed to have been staring with hatred at him when he didn't even know the man until five minutes ago. - "We'll begin the class with a quick quiz to see how much you've all been reading. Mr. Potter, explain to the class the twelve different uses for dragon blood"

"That was at the end of our coursebook" -he heard Hermione mutter

"I don't-"

"Unbelievable. He claims to have slayed a dragon with only twelve years old, yet he knows the slightest thing about the beasts. Tell us then, maybe you cheated and put the dragon to sleep before ending his life. What draught is the only known to be capable of sending a dragon into slumber?"

"Sir, I didn't-"

"It's professor Snape. So you wouldn't even know how to cheat your own tale. What about your discovery of Atlantis? What plant would you use to be able to breathe underwater?"

"I-"

" _Don't know_. Figures… so you don't know the uses of dragon blood, you don't know the only way to put a dragon to sleep would be with the Draught of Living Dead and you wouldn't even know to use Gillyweed to be able to breath underwater. I would be surprised if any at all of your adventures were true"

"Professor, I think you are mistaking this poor attempt of a wizard for the legendary Harry Potter. He doesn't have the scar or his signature glasses"

"Draco you imbecile fool… I fail to understand how Lucius was so unlucky as to have such a buffoon for an heir. A person of your caliber ought to know there are ways to conceal scars and potions to improve one's sight" -said Snape with contempt- "As I can already witness the level of idiocy I'm faced with once again, follow the step-by-step instructions on the blackboard to brew the cure-boils potion. It's so simple that I'd expect a monkey to be able to get it right. Work begins now and remain silent"

As soon as he said that everyone broke into whispers and taking notes of the instructions before commencing to work on their cauldrons.

"Harry, I think you should file a complaint. He was clearly targeting you without motive" -whispered Hermione- "I've leafed through our book and it only contains the uses of dragon blood. He was clearly out for your head"

"I know Her-" -Harry began to whisper back

"Potter! I believe I said to work in silence. That will be 5 points from Ravenclaw"

'I'll be definitely talking with Minerva about this asshole' -Harry thought to himself- 'And we have yet to go through the first fifteen minutes out of this shitty class. I better get it done quickly and hope he'll let us go once it's complete'

Harry spent the rest of the class fuming as he worked in complete silence. Despite every snake had been talking and most ravens were able to whisper with those beside them, whenever Harry made a noise out of place he was singled out by Snape and told to be quiet. He had been glad to be able to finish amongst the first. His potion had resulted in a dull red colour similar to Hermione's, whereas the instructions said it should be bright red. Nonetheless, he was glad he would be out of the classroom soon enough. He raised his hand and waited for Snape who eventually came over.

"Professor Snape" -he said with gritted teeth- "I've finished the assignment"

Snape inspected his potion while holding a sneer. A flick of his wand and the whole content of the cauldron had disappeared- "A pisspoor attempt of the assignment I'd say. For failing to accomplish the task and due to the lack of time or need to waste more resources, you will submit a twelve inches essay on the potion itself, it's uses as well as the reasons behind it's way of brewing. Now clean your stuff and leave already"

"But it was-"

"I don't remember asking you a question Potter. Now clean your work area and leave my dungeons"

'Oh I'm definitely going to denounce your ass, you greasy bastard' -he thought as he put to work on cleaning his stuff.

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Hermione was accompanying Harry to talk with Minerva right after their third period, which had consisted of Ghoul Studies.

"I can't believe they let such a useless person as Filch to teach a class! He's… how did Neville said they were called… he's not only a squib but also the caretaker of the school! How can they believe he has the knowledge to teach a class?" -Hermione complained

"Not to mention that the castle is filled with ghosts even though he's supposed to know how to exorcise them. He hasn't even done so with Peeves despite how much he complains about it" -said Harry

"I know! How are we supposed to learn from someone who can't perform the exact same thing he teaches? Is he gonna tell us we should chase vampires away with stakes once we get to them?"

Before they had any more time to complain about the class, they reached Minerva's office. They knocked on the door and went inside after being invited in

"I'd say I'm glad to see my ravens paying me a visit but your faces tell me this isn't a social visit" -said Minerva as she served some tea for the three of them- "But there's no reason we can't enjoy some tea despite the fact. So, what's troubling the both of you?"

"Minerva, why do we have Filch as a professor when it's clear he hasn't got the knowledge or the necessary abilities to teach Ghoul Studies?" -said Hermione completely forgetting the reason that had actually brought them there

"Ahh… I see. It's actually something that perplexes myself. I haven't been able to get the Headmaster to confess why he keeps him in such a position. But as he doesn't do any harm and teaches a class nobody really cares about once they are done with their first mandatory year, Filch has managed to remain in charge so far. Only my ravens ever hold a grudge against him for the knowledge he somehow denies them. Although I must say that I'm surprised this isn't about your Potions class instead"

"We actually came because of that. It's just that Hermione is freshly upset about Filch's class" -explained Harry provoking a blush of embarrassment on Hermione.

Minerva sighed with frustration- "I should have known better. I had feared it would come to this ever since I came back from your Introduction Day. How bad was it?"

Harry proceeded to recount the Potions class as well as Snape's behaviour particularly towards him. Hermione offered her own view of the events as well, reinforcing Harry's tale.

"I see…" -said Minerva with a sigh once they were done- "I was afraid it would come to this once the two of you met. But I'm afraid I can't do anything about it"

"What?!" -exclaimed both Hermione and Harry at the same time

"I know, but allow me to explain. Multiple times students have come to complain about Potions and Snape's behaviour. We've brought this up to the Headmaster by ourselves as well as Fillius, Pomona and I as a united front"

"Then how come he has yet to be sacked?" -exclaimed Hermione

"Because for reasons I am ruefully unable to discuss, Snape is Albus' protégé within the castle. And it's pointless to bring this to the Board of Governors, as Severus has proved to be a dear friend of Lucius Malfoy, who rules over major decisions as he and his faction hold the majority. Short of him being directly responsible for the death of a student, there's nothing you or I can do about it"

"So I'm gonna have to do what exactly?" -Asked Harry completely hopeless- "That dickhead seems determined to make my life impossible and I don't even know why!"

"Language Harry. I'm still a professor and I cannot permit such behaviour, especially against a faculty member. But the best for you would be to keep your head down while you are in class and complete any assignments he gives you. As for points and detentions I'll be able to review and dismiss any unlawfully given as it's my duty as Deputy Headmistress, just make sure to notify me whenever it happens. The silver lining is that even if he can mud your marks throughout your attendance at Hogwarts, he has no real say in OWL's and NEWT's grading. And it is those that actually have any importance for your future"

"This is fu- amazing" -Harry corrected himself upon Minerva's narrowed eyes. Hermione rubbed his back as a sign of support- "So I have no other option but to suck it up and hope for it to be over quickly. And without the slightest idea of what is wrong with him"

"The only option I can offer you is to excel to such extent in his class that he has no other choice but to praise you, I'm sure it will certainly rub on his nerves as he is always complaining about his students being incompetent." -After a moment of contemplation, Minerva offered- "Although I could give you the likely reason of his hate towards you, if you wish"

"Please. I'd rather know why if I'm gonna take the beating anyway" -Harry said dejectedly. Both Minerva and Hermione held a look of sorrow at hearing his tone and choice of words, but restrained to push that line of thought hoping for him to open up by himself on his own time.

"You seem to have inherited the lifetime grudge that Severus held against your father. They along with your mother were yearmates, and both of them seemed to be infatuated with her. I don't know when or what was the beginning of it, but by third year Severus and James would be at each others throat over dumbest and most trivial things. Your father and his friends really had it with him for their pranks. Despite Lily had been closer to Severus since the beginning, something happened on their sixth year that made the two of them fall apart. On their seventh year, James finally seized his chance when he and your mother were awarded as Head Girl and Boy and eventually started dating. That was most likely what finally pushed Severus into the dark…" -Minerva slipped up before she even realized- "After that, Severus was never able to forgive neither Lily nor James and you seem to remind him enough of them as to inherit his grudge."

"So he hates my guts over stuff that happened before I was even a possibility. Just my fucking luck to come across this gigantic arse once I was out of reach of the damned Dursleys" -said Harry as he rubbed his temple, completely oblivious to Minerva's admonishing look over his words of choice.

"Harry, I know it sucks and it's completely unfair. But I promise I'll help you however I can to get through Potions until you pass your OWL and even your NEWT if you chose so" -offered Hermione, getting smiles of appreciation from both Harry and Minerva.

"Thanks" -said Harry

"I'm glad to see two of my ravens will stand by each other as if they were badgers themselves. You two must always remember that even if you were assigned to Ravenclaw due to your wits, it doesn't mean you can't be loyal and hardworking as a badger, brave and chivalrous as a lion or cunning and ambitious as a snake"

"But the houses… don't they truly mean anything?" -asked Hermione

"It's only proof of one of your many possible strengths. Or were you not offered more than one choice by the hat?" -said Minerva with a knowing smile.

"Well… I did get offered to be a lion and a badger" -said Hermione as she looked at Harry

"I… yes, I got offered to be a lion or a snake to my regret. But there's no chance in hell I would have ever gone with the Slytherins." -confessed Harry, reassured that he could trust both of them.

After that, the three of them finished their tea in silence before Harry and Hermione excused themselves before leaving towards the library, so they could begin their research on Harry's Potions assignment.

* * *

%%%

Neville, Hermione and Harry were all sitting on the front rows of the Transfiguration classroom. On the teacher's desk was sitting a tabby cat, and all the ravens already knew it was actually Minerva. But the lions did not, and those who noticed the animal found it curious enough that some even tried to pet it only to receive a warning growl against the idea. The bell rang and before the door could be closed, Ron and Terry Boot dashed through.

"Thank god we got here before McGonagall" -said Terry

"Yeah, I don't wanna know what she would do if she had seen we were late" -answered Ron as Harry, Hermione and Neville stifled a laugh- "Bet she could do with some more fun instead of having to settle down stupid fights over who gets to read which book first" -Ron tried to jibe them, only to get a surprise when Minerva jumped off the desk and transformed mid-air.

"Mr Weasley, why don't you take a seat instead of making a fool of yourself? And rest assured that my ravens are highly amusing, unlike some other dull houses. Now please take a seat so we may start"

Both Ron and Terry did the smart thing for once; they lowered their heads and took a seat at the back of the classroom.

"I may have met many of you already but I'll introduce myself for those who don't. I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress, Ravenclaw's Head of House and Transfiguration Battlemage and I will be guiding you all through the Transfiguration field of magic. We'll begin our studies by fixed transfigurations, moving on to switching spells before we delve into vanishing and conjuring spells. For everyone willing to take it to a NEWT level, we'll be seeing the free transfiguration spell over your two final years along with the required knowledge over basic anatomy and physiology. For those of you unfamiliar with free transfiguration, it is a simple spell that allows us to turn an object into whatever we desire within certain aspects that rule it. All you need to accomplish it is to have sufficient knowledge of the biological aspects of the final entity. Furthermore, anyone willing to undertake an animagus transformation may approach me whenever you may decide so. But be warned that is a long road involving lots of research, meditation and hard work before you may have your first attempt and this does not guarantee by any means that you will be successful on your task"

Even though Minerva was stressing how much hard work required to master Transfiguration, Harry had felt enthusiastic about the subject since he had seen in it action back at the Dursleys'. And he was certainly intrigued in the prospect of being able to turn into an animal form.

"Now, I'm sure all of my ravens have read ahead and I expect most lions to have leafed at least through the beginning of our book. So I'll provide you all with the required objects and the list of fixed transfigurations you will go through as far as you are able until the end of the first period. On the second period we'll have an overview of the common ground you may all share and we'll move forward from there. Fixed transfiguration spells have an intended and fixed outcome, so they are rather simple and straightforward to learn. I wouldn't expect us to dwell on them for more than a semester if you all apply yourselves to learning them"

Minerva made a flick of her wand and the materials shot over the classroom, landing one of each in front of every student. They got matches, teapots and some caged animals to try each spell.

By the end of the first period most lions had been able to turn their mice into a snuff box successfully but struggled to completely turn them into a matchbox. All of the ravens had surpassed them, going as far as successfully turning hedgehogs into pincushions and accomplishing some degree of success at turning owls to opera glasses. Hermione had not only been able to perform that one, but had almost fully transformed a peacock into a water goblet. Harry himself had been able to get the opera glasses correct, but had had no idea on where to start with the peacock. Unfortunately for the whole class, Ron had barely completed the match into needle transformation and only managed to give the teapot some legs, whereas Terry had been able to get a metallic tortoise. That meant that they had began the second period straight from the bottom of the spells and it would be a few classes before they were able to reach the spell Harry truly desired: the _Draconifors Spell_.

* * *

%%%

It was barely an hour into the fourth period of the day when Harry along with everyone who had been brave enough to return to Lorcan's Wizarding Close Combat, were enjoying their courtesy hospitalisation. Coincidentally, none of the purebloods had gone back to WCC, not even the badger Ernest Macmillan.

Harry was lying awake but with his eyes closed as he waited for treatment when Tonks showed up.

"Wotcher couz! So I see you haven't given up yet" -said Tonks, way too cheerfully for Harry's mood

"Urgh… you again." -said Harry teasing her

"Oy! I'm an amazing healer-trainee! You should consider yourself lucky that you have me to tend to your sore muscles. Here, drink this up already" -she gave him the painkiller potion which got him to sigh in relief- "So you really do like it" -she said with a grin.

"Not again Nym. You need a new line or give it some time before you bring it up again. And stop poking me; you already know I don't feel it over the potion!"

"Bummer. Ok, so I guess I'll have to do with torturing your mind. How was your day?" -she said as she pushed him over to take a sit on his bed

"Transfiguration in the morning. I gotta say I really liked it, but due to someone's incompetence we are eons away from learning the Draconifors Spell" –Harry grumbled.

Tonks gave a sigh- "Boys and their lust for dragons. I bet you would try to have a baby dragonling if you could"

"Woah, way too soon for that line of thought! Although I wouldn't be able to really deny it if it were at all possible. Can you imagine how awesome that would be?" -Asked Harry receiving a smack from Tonks, even if he couldn't really feel it- "Ok, don't get aggressive. Lorcan beats us up more than enough already. Does anyone ever get to complete his warm up and do some actual training?"

"Oh don't you worry. It may take a few months under his tutelage, but once he sees you all have a decent fitness he'll start training you all for real. So, what was your third period today?"

"Urgh, we had History of Magic with Binns. Now I get why they don't offer a decent teacher for Ghoul Studies, everyone would be constantly trying to exorcise Binns otherwise" -he said provoking Tonks to laugh

"Yeah, he really is a pain in the arse. All we do now is use his classes to study something else or nap. No one really cares about the subject, as all he ever does is to monologue about the Goblin rebellions"

"Hmm… might be a good idea, especially since I've got Astronomy after dinner and I'll always be exhausted after WCC."

"Don't you worry kiddo! I've got the perfect remedy for that!" -She said as she closed the curtains around the bed- "Now make me some room for me and I'll watch over you as you power nap your recovery for tonight's class"

"You could always give me a greater dose of pepper-up you know" -said Harry with a chuckle

"Shh, I'm the professional healer-trainee over here, so do as I say and sleep for a while"

"Don't you have an actual healer class to attend to?" -asked Harry still chuckling

"Do as the doctor orders and sleep" -she said with narrowed eyes, shoving his head into the pillow before she cuddled against him and began to snore softly before he had any chance to come up with something else. Shortly after, he had fallen asleep as well.

It was twenty minutes before dinner time when Poppy finally realised that one of her beds was once again missing under the privacy charms on the curtains. She pulled the curtains open and sighed in frustration, as she pulled up her wand and casted a quick _enervate_ spell to each teen startling them awake.

"Oi! That was uncalled for! And you've always said that it is unhealthy to use them on people who are simply asleep rather than stunned" -Tonks immediately complained being the first one to grasp what was going on

"I'm glad to know you do pay attention to at least some of my lessons Ms. Tonks. But I seem to recall that I repeatedly instructed on a reduced pepper-up dose." -Said Poppy with a raised eyebrow- "And I'm starting to doubt myself if you were really as innocent as I believed on this matter"

Having caught up to what was going on and not embarrassed into shock as the previous time, Harry was able to attempt a defense- "We- I- Ouch!" -he exclaimed at being smacked in the head by Tonks.

"Pull yourself together and stop shaming me as your jedi master"

He rubbed the back of his head and narrowed his eyes at Tonks- "And I should thank you for that?" -Poppy cleared her throat to bring him back into focus- "Sorry. We had History of Magic today and I've got Astronomy tonight, so I didn't want to be falling asleep during class"

Poppy looked at them with narrowed eyes- "Regardless of that, I shouldn't let this stand. I'll be assigning a new healer-trainee next time we pick you up at WCC. Nymphadora, administer what I had instructed of pepper-up, it should keep him awake while gazing the stars tonight. Dinner will be served in fifteen minutes, so get going" -she said and left the infirmary on her way to the Great Hall.

* * *

%%%

It was Friday's third period and the ravens were waiting for Mythical Studies to begin. The ravens had spent Thursday morning on the greenhouses for the Herbology class with the badgers and Thursday's third period on their first Broom Flight class along with everyone in their year. Harry had certainly felt thrilled with the experience once he took into the air, feeling it incredibly natural for being his first time. He had been so enthralled by the sensation that he couldn't remember anything else about the class. Friday morning they had spent it with the snakes in Defense Against the Dark Arts, that was taught by a teacher who stuttered so much that he had got on Hermione's nerves for making it difficult to follow the class. Harry had also felt unease with Quirrell, although he couldn't say for sure if it had been his stuttering or what.

The professor finally arrived twenty minutes after the class was supposed to start. She was a woman of short stature with thick, curly brown hair, flashing blue eyes and bronze sunkissed skin. She wore green and black robes that had certain metallic shine and wore a deep red cloak which he threw over to her seat. She gave a general feeling of wit as sharp as odd.

"Good evening everyone. I'm Angela and I'll be you Mythical Studies professor" -she introduced herself with a cheerful voice. After a moment of silence she pointed at Hermione who had raised her hand.

"Good afternoon professor. May we know your last name?"

"I don't see why not" –She said pausing for a brief moment before carrying on- "For those of you still unclear on what we'll be seeing, we'll mostly study other races and their culture. I had decided to name this class as Mythical due to the fact the non magical society believes them to be myths, legends or a simple creative concept. This year I expect us to be able to go through the dovahkiin, the elven and the fae races at the very least, but this doesn't mean we won't be seeing plenty of other races throughout our classes. As for today, we will be starting with the Goblin race as it is quite common to come across them on this side of the magical world" -she paused and pointed Hermione once again- "Yes my dear?"

"Can you tell us your last name?" -asked Hermione slightly forcefully.

"Certainly I can" -said Angela with a smile- "Could you tell me yours?"

"My name is Hermione Granger"

"Ahh, but that is not what I asked. Did I?" -Said Angela holding her smile for a moment before offering an explanation- "Many races are known to enjoy tricking those with duller minds through the wording of what they may say or promise. I have seen it countless of times, many more than you could ever imagine, and the consequences are not always as innocuous as one might wish to believe."

It took Hermione a moment of consideration before she understood the underlying lesson- "Ohh… Ok then. Angela, what is your full name?"

Angela offered her a devilish smile before she replied- "That, my dear Hermione, is for me to know and you to find out. Not that I actually expect any of you to do so anyway"

Harry placed a hand on her shoulder and offered a gentle squeeze before she could something she would later regret- "Hey… does it really matter?"

She only huffed in indignation, before she crossed her arms and muttered- "Fine"

Having averted a possible disaster, the class continued as planned. The subject seemed to be interesting as well as entertaining. There was a noticeable lack of bias on her view of Goblins, which Harry thought was a necessary quality for such a class. It had definitely been missing in Binns' lecture over the Goblin rebellions.

* * *

%%%

Later that day, Harry was back at his infirmary bed after another WCC warm up.

"Hello, Harry is it?" -Harry opened his eyes to find a girl other than Tonks for once. She had olive skin, brown eyes and short hair. She had an athletic body and wore a cheerful smile. He was tired enough that all he could offer was a nod- "Good, Poppy instructed me to take care of you. I'm Katie Bell by the way, the lion's chaser. Here, have your painkiller potion as you seem to be in dire need of it"

Harry gulped down the potion and gave a sigh of relief as he started feeling its effects- "Thank you. I just felt like dieing back there"

Katie laughed at this- "Yeah, I know. Lorcan's regime is really tough but it pays off once he starts teaching you actual combat. He really knows his stuff, to a point that he is sometimes scary"

"Yay, he gets even more nuts" -said Harry with faked enthusiasm.

"Yeah, he does. Ok, so I'll give you your pepper-up and you are good to go" -but before she could give him the potion, Tonks barged in.

"No Katie wait! He's allergic to it. Give me, I'll take it from here. Go to Poppy that she's already continuing with today's lesson" -she said taking the vial from her hands and pushing her away.

"That's strange; I didn't know one could be allergic to it. Anyway, nice to meet you Harry! I'll leave you to Tonksy's care but I hope to see you soon"

"Yeah yeah, later Katie. We need some privacy for his treatment" -said Tonks giving her a final push and pulling the curtains closed- "Now… I've had a long day so no chit chat, I'm here just for my nap" -she said shoving him over to one side of the bed and taking her usual position leaned against his arm.

"You know you could have one by your own, right?"

"It's warmer this way. And I said no talking, it's power nap time" -not a minute later than she hit the pillow that she fell asleep with Harry following through soon enough.

Some time later, Poppy realized for the third time on the week that one of her beds was missing. She pulled open the curtains already pinching her nose and cast the _enervate_ spell to both teens without even bothering to look.

"Ms. Tonks, I seem to recall you were assigned to care after Roger Malone today and Harry was supposed to be under Ms. Bell's care."

"Yup, and I saw to Roger's health and came to make sure wouldn't have an allergic reaction to the pepper-up" -answered Tonks with a grin

"Nym, she already knows I'm not allergic to it" -said Harry with exasperation, before he grunted in pain upon Tonks elbow to his ribs.

"She knows you are not allergic to it _after_ your nap, Potter. So I didn't want to risk a different treatment"

Poppy could only laugh to her deliberate misinterpretation of her teachings- "Fine. I feel that short of reworking the privacy charms on every bed, there's no way I'll be able to keep you from your rests. As you most certainly are not falling behind on my lessons, I'll allow it as long as you set up an alarm to be ready for dinner. And Merlin forbid if I find you two have been doing anything other than sleep, am I clear?"

"Crystal" -said Tonks as Harry offered a nod.

"Very well. Now wrap this up, give him his pepper-up and get down for dinner already" -she said turning away to leave the infirmary.

* * *

%%%

It was Saturday early afternoon and all of the first years were at the flying court for their second Broom Flight lesson. Harry was eager for Madame Hooch to order them all to pull off, but she wouldn't give the order until she had managed to sort out a quarrel between Ron and Terry vs Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. Harry couldn't really give a fuck about whatever they were doing as he was dieing to take off once more and fill the wind rushing by.

Hermione was standing right beside him, but her attitude on the matter was completely opposite. She couldn't hide her fear of heights, her legs were trembling and her face turned pale just thinking about it

Apparently, Madame Hooch had turned away only for a moment from the two groups fighting who had seemingly settled down when a spell was fired off; missing the lions and hitting in the back of the head an unsuspecting badger girl, Sophie Roper. That had provoked Madam Hooch to explode in rage. She rounded up the five of them to take them with the Headmaster and asked two other badgers to take their friend to the infirmary. Frankly, it had been quite a stupid and childish spell that caused Sophie to burp up slugs but it had definitely freaked the girl out and it had all been more than enough to require a trip to the medical wing. Upon leaving, Madame Hooch left standing orders that no one was to take off the ground until she was back.

"Great, now we have to wait for her to come back before we can actually fly!" -Harry complained.

"Harry, please shut up" -grumbled Hermione.

"Oh relax Hermione, brooms are supposedly safe"

"It's not the broom I'm afraid of. It's the altitudes I hate. I thought I made myself clear on our first class" -she said with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, sorry… I kinda lost myself in the bliss of flying our last time. I can't remember the slightest thing about the class if I'm being honest"

"Lucky you" -mumbled Hermione

"Come on Hermione, you need to relax. We're still on the ground but you are so tense that you are still on your broom despite the fact that we are not supposed to take off for a while. You have to clear your mind and let go of it, or you will never be able to get over your fear of flying" -Harry said trying to ease her nerves. She closed her eyes and grudgingly did so. Once she had finally managed to stop shaking, Harry said- "See? It wasn't that hard after all"

"Yeah right, as if it's gonna be that easy while on the air" -mumbled Hermione

"Loosen up and stop thinking about it. It's not as if you are suddenly gonna take off out of control" -Harry teased her, proving to be a fatal mistake.

Hermione had been trying to clear her mind of all thoughts in order to relax. But it meant that when Harry joked with the idea of taking off, her whole mind filled with the frightful image. Also barely being their second month amidst the magical world, her yet untamed magic reacted to the idea and the broom actually carried it out. Before anyone had any time to grab a hold of her, Hermione had soared off twenty meters into the air. When she realised of her new position, panic settled in with vengeance. She grabbed as tight as she could to her broom, twisting and twitching with the slightest of air currents. Her broom proved to be sensitive enough to pick up on her every twitch, resulting in sharp turns and changes of her altitude as she proceeded to accelerate and slow down in the most chaotic of ways. Harry screamed at her to relax and open her eyes, to loosen up so she could bring her broom back under control. But she kept going higher and her movements grew wilder.

She was already spiraling out of control fifty meters up in the sky when Harry realised that the only way for her to land would be for him to go after her. As he was closing in on her his voice grew louder for her, but in her state of panic she thought that meant she was actually falling down and instinctively tried to pull up. They were a couple hundreds of feet up into the air when it happened. She did a barrel roll and lost grip of her broom, before plummeting towards the cold hard ground. Harry had almost been close enough to catch her when it did, but the suddenness of the fall took him completely by surprise.

He aimed his broom directly towards the ground and raced after her. Thankfully he was able to catch up with her still 50 meters up in the air. Once he had a tight hold of her body, he began to pull upwards in an arc trying to deaccelerate their fall. But their combined body weight and their falling speed proved to be too much for the old school brooms and he had barely been able to level up his broom when they came into contact with the ground and rolled over in a tangle of limbs and broom. Their momentum finally ceased when he hit the base of the Ravenclaw Tower with his back making a loud thump on the stone, still holding Hermione tight to himself.

His back and head throbbed with pain, but all he really cared was if Hermione had ended up alright. Upon checking he saw she was crying, but thankfully she hadn't sustained any major injury aside from a few scratches, caused by the broom splinters and all the rolling over the grass. Apparently he had been successful in absorbing most of the fall with his own body. He cradled her in his arms and tried to soothe her panic.

"Hermione! Hermione, we're on the ground already. Everything is fine, I've got you" -he said while rubbing her back.

"You idiot! Why did you have to joke with that! Ouch!" -She screamed at him and punched him in the chest before grabbing hold of her wrist due to the pain- "I think I broke my bloody wrist on the fall"

Harry could only laugh to that, which provoked a sharp pain to his chest- "Yeah, it seems I broke a few of my ribs as well. And I think a piece of the broom pierced my leg" -he said, not daring to move and check.

"You better have a few other bruises as all this was your fault after all" -she complained before resting her head in the nook of his shoulder- "Thanks by the way. For catching me"

"Don't you worry. I guess it really was somehow my fault after all, but I wouldn't let you die anyway" -He said in a sudden rash of sincerity while holding her tight, or at least as tight as he could without making his ribs scream in pain.

Minerva showed up running from one side of the tower as the rest of their classmates finally caught up to them. She had apparently witnessed the ordeal from the window on her office. She dismissed the class to make sure there would be no other accidents before casting _locomotor corpus_ on both of them and taking them to the infirmary. Thankfully, all the broken bones had resulted to be minor injuries, easily fixed by minor spellwork and a few potions along with the bruising.

After reviewing the events with Minerva to make sure such an accident wouldn't happen again, she spoke directly to Harry- "Harry, I know you might not be thrilled about flying after today; but tomorrow the ravens quidditch team will be holding their tryouts. I don't know how good you might be at the game, but your flying skills are certainly remarkable considering this has only been your second time on a broom. I would really like you to show up, as this is the final year of some of our main players and we have a vacancy or two in other positions. Even if you don't make it to the main roster, I believe you could at least be able to gain a position on the reserve and be able to improve your skills for the coming years. But I'll be able to understand if your sentiment towards flying has radically changed after todays events."

"What? Are you kidding me?" -exclaimed Harry

"I see and I completely understand. I-"

"I wouldn't miss the opportunity of joining a flight team for anything!" -He added with a mad grin- "I'll definitely be there tomorrow. I bet I could even get Hermione to give it a try"

"What?! Oh hell no! There's no bloody way I'm getting anywhere near those tryouts!" -Exclaimed Hermione as she threw a her pillow to Harry's face- "I'd much rather stay safe on the ground as far as I'm concerned"

"You do know Flying classes are mandatory, right?" -Harry retorted with a smile

"I'll plead for Madame Hooch to allow me to write essays and other kind of research instead" -she claimed in a huff and crossed her arms.

Before they had any opportunity for further bantering, Minerva butted in- "Wonderful. I'll write you down for the tryouts tomorrow in that case. You both are free for the rest of the day once Poppy finishes checking up the both of you and allows for your release" -she said with a smile before skipping off.

"Wow. I don't remember ever seeing her so cheery over anything" -Harry commented.

"That's because she is a die hard fanatic of quidditch and the Ravenclaw team hasn't been able to harness a decent team in a long time" -explained Poppy

"Oh…" -said both teens

"I certainly didn't see that coming" -added Hermione

Soon enough, they were both given medical leave and returned to the ravens common room to relax and study for the rest of the day.

* * *

 **.%%%**

* * *

 **A/N 01: Damn… It took me almost four days to concentrate enough and be able to finish revising this chapter.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Angela and its universe (Inheritance Cycle) belong to Christopher Paolini or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Lorcan, Rowan and its universe (Throne of Glass series) belong to Sarah J. Maas or whichever company really has its rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**


	8. 008 Halloween

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its universe belong to JK Rowling or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just fool around with its universe and characters.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Angela and its universe (Inheritance Cycle) belong to Christopher Paolini or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Lorcan, Rowan and its universe (Throne of Glass series) belong to Sarah J. Maas or whichever company really has its rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**

 **#####**

 **A/N 1: I forgot to clear this out with an A/N before so… Tonks is only 2 years older than Harry for my fic, so she would be in the same year as the twins.**

 **A/N 2: Angela and Lorcan (as well as Rowan and Murtagh once they show up) are only my tools of choice to introduce changes and new elements into the HP-verse. It's not imperativa at all for you to have read those books, which is why I'm not placing this as a cross-over. Why them? idk, just felt like it.**

 _ **I wanna thank my awesome brother for acting as my Alpha and my**_ **Batata** _**for proofreading part of my writing.**_

 **And I also want to thank every reader who takes that little extra time to review my fic. I really appreciate the feedback you provide.**

* * *

 ** **.%%%****

* * *

 **The wandering path of a Battlemage**

############

 **CHAPTER 008**

############

October had finally arrived and Harry was finally beginning to notice some improvement on his Quidditch game. He had aced the tryouts on the flying course but he had displayed a poor performance on the game itself. Luckily for him, each house was compelled to have three reserve positions on their teams to be filled exclusively with housemates from their first to third year. That meant that even though the older students still held the better chances of securing a spot in the main team, there was still some room left to train the next generation. This year, the Ravenclaw's reserve consisted of Harry and Tracey Davis for the chaser spots and Susan Bones for the keeper position, though any of them would have to cover any of other position if required so. The scoring seemed pretty straight forward, each quaffle was worth 10 points and the seeker to catch the snitch would add 20 percent of their points as well as effectively marking the end of the match.

"Harry!" -Hermione whispered as loud as she could within Pince's realm- "I asked if you're already done with Snape's extra essay"

"Oh, yeah. I got it done already"

"Good, then quit daydreaming and let's get down to our next task of the day. We need to meditate on our Occlumency shields so we have something to show for to Minerva when we ask for further instruction, remember? As we agreed last time?"

"Yes but… daydreaming is all I've really learned from Neville's exercises" -confessed Harry with nervous smile- 'I don't know if admitting that to her was the smartest thing to do'

Hermione sighed in frustration- "I know Harry, but now you are able block outside stimulus at will, am I right? And whatever you get to wander on about, it has become a lot more clear and solid within your mind, right?"

"Uhh… yeah, I guess you could say so. I mean… now I can simulate flight stunts a lot more accurately I believe. Although I still have my doubts if I'm really picturing all the natural forces correctly. I kinda have a feeling some of them could actually get me to crash hard into the ground"

Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose- "If you have spent all that time going over our lessons I'm sure you could be top of the class alongside me"

"Hey! On the last tentative ranking I was seventh on our year! And I actually give you a run for your money in proper casting"

"Yeah yeah, you lucky natural bastard" -grumbled Hermione with her arms crossed- "Anyway, let's practice some more on our -"

"Daydreaming" -Harry butted in with a grin

"Fine! On our daydreaming before we ambush Minerva and Tonks on your ability development meeting" -Hermione said with a frown- "I still don't know why you make us avoid even the mention of it, it's not like the word itself will give you away"

"And I still don't know why are we doing this during one of those meetings" -rebuffed Harry

"I already told you. It's already a part of your schedule and it fits mine as well" -she said with exasperation

"Hermione, I don't carry a daily schedule like you"

"I know. That's why I carry one for you" -she said with a self-righteous smile- "Now quit stalling and get down to your daydreaming"

"Which I was already doing before you interrupted" -muttered Harry, gaining a smack to his arm for his cheek.

* * *

"Come on in" -they heard Minerva across the door. Upon seeing the both of them entering the room, she did a double take on Hermione before giving them a proud smile- "Tonks, I must say this is by far the best dittoing of another student you have accomplished so far"

Harry and Hermione remained stunned into silence as Minerva approached Hermione and carried on a closer inspection, prodding different parts of Hermione's body with her wand- "Tonks you have achieved an amazing progress since the last time we tried this. You are actually holding up your morphing without the slightest twitch on it!" -Hermione had been mortified into shock by such an invasion of her personal self, so it was up to Harry to try and clear things up. He had only been able to stutter a few words out when they heard another knock on the door.

Minerva turned with a frown towards the door- "I wonder who could that be" -opening the door to come face to face with a cheerful Tonks.

"Good afternoon Minnie! Sorry I'm late. Wotcher Harry! Oh, who is our new guest?" -Tonks greeted everyone as she walked past a perplexed Minerva.

"I had thought it was actually you dittoing Hermione Granger" -said Minerva once her mind finally caught up- "And I believe I may owe her an apology"

"I think you broke the both of them… especially her pride" -Tonks commented with a grin before burst out laughing- "Oh my Minnie… what did you do to her? Look at her cheeks! She could camouflage amongst the lions' banner right now"

"I just-"

"Don't you worry professor; this was my entire fault for arriving without invitation. And you!" -Hermione quickly interrupted before turning to look at Harry with narrowed eyes despite her furious blush- "I don't want to hear a peep from this since you could have stopped her!"

"I'm sorry Hermione, it's just it got me unaware as much as it did to you and when she- Ouch! What was that for?" -Harry asked having received a smack to the side of his head.

"I said not a word. Ever!" -she said while holding a menacing finger to his face

Harry sighed as he rubbed his head- "Alright, fine. I promise I won't tell a living soul about it" -Hermione's only response was to straighten up trying to stand up taller, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms while raising a single eyebrow in defiance. It took only a few moments for Harry to surrender into a chuckle- "You know I wouldn't do that to you anyway. But I'm happy you won't get caught so easily with that kind of stuff anymore" -he said with a smile.

"Dumbass" -to which they heard Minerva clearing her throat- "Sorry professor"

Minerva let out a sigh- "Its fine dear. Now… what are the two of you up to? As I certainly wouldn't believe my luck if you were to tell me you discovered yourself to be another dormant Metamorphmagus"

"What?!" -Exclaimed Tonks as she used to her abilities to give her eyes a puppy-dog look- "Am I going to have a new sister now?"

"What? No no no no" -said Hermione as Harry laughed by her side- "I came here- well, both of us came here today to ask for help in our Occlumency training"

This crashed Tonks spirits but certainly caught the interest of Minerva- "I always told Albus that this school actually needs a class on the Mind Arts. But I'm afraid I would be of little help as I am by no means a master of the field. Out of curiosity, how far are you with your shields?"

"With Neville's help, we got as far as to daydream at will and be able to recall some useful memories" -Harry said with a grin as he enjoyed being able to annoy Hermione through the use of the term.

"Good. So you have some control over your mindscape but have no filing method nor any kind of shields so far" -said Minerva releasing a sigh- "And that would mean there is still a long way for the two of you to go" -she took a few moments of her own to think about their situation- "Alright, as you are my ravens I'll do my best to help both of you. Today I'll instruct you on some further basic exercises to gain control over your mindscape for you to practice on your spare time. In the meantime, I'll do some research of my own on how to properly teach Occlumency and advance on my own knowledge of Legilimency. But there will be some conditions; is that alright with the two of you?"

"What kind of conditions?" -asked Hermione

"First of all, you will keep these sessions to yourself. You may try and teach others but you are not to be telling them it's me who is actually teaching you. I already have my fair share of tasks and projects as it is. Secondly," -she turned to look pointedly at Hermione- "you will become my assistant in regards to studying these two. As his housemate, you have plenty more of time to make observations on Harry's daily progress and the behaviour of his abilities. You could give me an insight whether he behaves differently outside of classes, the great hall or in here, as those are some of the few places I can keep track of his progress by myself" -she paused for them to give their consent, to which both nodded. Minerva then turned to look at Tonks- "And what about you Tonks? Would you like to join them in their endeavor? As they seem quite decided on using the time we had for yours and Harry's Metamorphmagus training."

"Mum has been teaching me by a couple of years already, but some extra help wouldn't help I guess. So count me in Cap'n!"

"Wait. So Hermione has to become your assistant in exchange for your help, but what about me or Tonks?" -asked Harry.

"We double our time as her guinea pigs, you dummy" -answered Tonks with a smile- "Especially you, since you'll be around Hermione most of the time. Plus, Minnie here gets to check out our minds. Which I'd bet it was her endgame all along."

"I believe it's a win-win scenario." -Said Minerva with faking indignation- "I don't see any reason to start pointing finger on who got the better end of the bargain. Do we all have an agreement?"

"Hold on a second" -said Hermione looking at Minerva- "Do I get any recognition on the research?"

This got a moment of stunned silence before Tonks and Harry began laughing at her antics, as Minerva smiled at her- "I'm glad you even thought of that. And yes, I'll include you in my research and whatever publication we may reach."

"Good enough for me, I'm in" -cheered Hermione with a smile.

"I have a feeling we were conned into this" -said Harry to Tonks

"Well… we really are some juicy specimens in their eyes" -she said with a shrug- "I'll be fine with it as long as it doesn't turn creepy and I can get something out of it"

* * *

%%%

Next Sunday morning Neville, Harry and Hermione were enjoying breakfast- 'Well… at least Neville is enjoying it' -As Harry was doing his utmost best to enjoy his but miserably failing to do so. The cause of his discomfort was Hermione's relentless observation of his every move, which had been going on since the moment they left Minerva's office the previous day- "Hermione please, quit for a moment and have some breakfast. Or rather try not to make it so awkward for me" -Hermione took a bite from her toasts and a sip from her coffee as a response, but it was clear for Harry that she didn't really turn her eyes away from him.

"What's her deal?" -asked Neville

"We… uhh… she has become Minerva's assistant on her research for… you know, my set of skills…" -Harry explained as he looked around to make sure no one was paying too much attention to them- "in exchange for help in… dammit."

Neville had a face of utter confusion- "Ok… I can figure out the first part. But you are getting help on what?"

"Look, we agreed not to tell… but she did tell us we could help others by our own. So if you were to ask for our help, I guess we could pass you along whatever she instructs us."

"Harry…" -Hermione began to say but stopped herself. She furrowed her brows as she thought about it for a moment- "Fine, I guess it is a loophole after all and we can trust Neville anyway. But I think you are rubbing off on Angela too much" -she said narrowing her eyes.

Harry chose to simply offer her a grin before turning to Neville expectantly. After a moment of hesitation- "Fine, I'll bite. Would you guys help me with whatever this is?"

"Don't you worry! We got your back Nev" -said Harry with a grin as Neville began to cold sweat in anticipation to whatever may come- "As we reached a point of stagnation with what you were able to teach us on Occlumency, we went with Minnie for help." -Harry recounted yesterday's events. He carefully avoided Minerva's initial confusion regarding Hermione's identity due to the warning stares he received from her.

"Wait, why didn't the two of you ask me for more help?" -asked Neville

"Well… you said it yourself Nev" -Hermione explained feeling a little awkward- "You got down the basics just fine, but you are not really the best on the subject"

"And Hermione over here was getting frustrated with my lack of focus during my daydreams" -Harry added, receiving a playful smack on his arm from her.

"Ok I… I guess it's the cold hard truth, so I shouldn't really get mad over it. And maybe with your help I'll be able to rub it in grandma's face the next time she tries to lecture me on the subject."

"Great, so-" -but Harry was interrupted by Hedwig who had landed on top of his head before hopping down to the table.- "Hey girl, got anything for me this morning?" -he said affectionately ruffling her feathers.

Hedwig enjoyed herself in the petting before she picked a crumpled letter from within the folds of her feathers and offered it to him. As Harry opened the envelope, Hedwig decided to help herself to some of his remaining breakfast. Once she devoured every bit of Harry's bacon which he had been saving for last, she hopped over to Hermione for some further petting before she took off to complete her morning routine. She flew over to the Gryffindor table where she stole a pumpkin juice cup right from the hands of an unsuspecting Ron. She carried on her way with the cup firmly held in her talons without spilling a single drop and went over the Slytherin table. Once in position, she let go of the cup as if she were a bomber plane dropping it on top of Malfoy's head before leaving the great hall through one of the windows. Malfoy proceeded to scream, whine and complain in his best impression of a petulant silver spooned kid. What seemed to annoy him the most, was that not only he never knew when the attacks would come but he also remained completely unaware of whose owl it was. As Hedwig was clever enough to perform her stunts during the breakfast hours filled with everyone's owls and she always left the great hall directly after that.

"Huh… that's interesting. It's a- Oh for fucks sake! She took every last piece of my bacon again!" -Harry complained and checked on the table for any left in the platters- "And of course there had to be no more left on the whole freaking table"

Neville and Hermione laughed at him and his owl antics. After a good laugh at Harry's expenses, Hermione wiped a few tears and asked- "Harry, what was the letter about?"

"Oh, right. It's from Hagrid; he's inviting me for some tea this afternoon and says that you two are welcome to come. I know it's a bit weird, but there would be no harm in dropping by for some friendly chat and see if there's anything he actually wants to talk about, right?"

"It's quite strange if I'm being honest. He always seems friendlier towards you than the rest of the class. I guess I could leave that book I was planning to read through for later and come along with you. I just wanna make sure you have back up if he… you know… plays for the other team" -Hermione said getting a frightened face from Harry until she began to giggle- "Can't believe you actually bought that. He is friendlier towards you, but we all know he wouldn't hurt a fly. What about you Nev?"

"Sorry, I can't. Hannah and I promised Sprout that we would be helping out at the greenhouses today." -he said getting knowing looks from the both of them- "But do let me know if he fancies Harry that way" -he added with a grin before he and Hermione began to laugh once more at Harry's horror face.

Later that day, they discovered that all Hagrid really wanted was to make friends with the son of two of his former war buddies. They enjoyed some hot tea accompanied with some awful rock cakes that could serve as devastating ammunition for Hedwig's bombardment attacks. They talked about his class and how he was really dying for them to join him in his proper class of Care of Magical Creatures, where he would finally be able to show them the interesting creatures. He told them a few stories about Harry's parents, especially a few adventures of his father and his group of friends, although something seemed to sadden him whenever he talked about the whole group. Regardless of that, Harry had been thankful for the stories as all he had known about the two of them until then were the few stories he had gotten from Minerva, especially focusing on his mother Lily who had also been a raven. Harry and Hermione only left Hagrid's hut late into the evening, as dinner would be served soon and they both had a few assignments to finish. They promised they would all try to make a few more regular visits throughout the rest of the year.

* * *

%%%

Harry would be remembering this Friday as one of the most dreadful during his life; him along with all of his classmates at WCC. Last Wednesday the whole class had finally been able to perform a whole two hours class of warm up without anybody fainting. So when they arrived today, they found that Lorcan had finally deemed them ready for the next step in his class.

"Come closer lads; that will be enough of warm up from now on." -Said Lorcan- "Today we'll begin a proper combat training. We'll be going through it the non-magical way until I see you all fit for the next step in Wizarding Close Combat"

"Oh come on! We're at Hogwarts to learn magic and all we've done so far is boring training" -Seamus Finnigan, one of the three remaining lions complained- "Why can't we add magic into the mix like a proper Close Combat Wizard from the very beginning? That way we won't need to relearn most of it later."

"I like your spirit kid. But we'll see how you feel about that once we are done with today's class." -Lorcan replied with a demonic smile that caused a chill to run through their bones- "As you will all see in due time that conserving your energies for the proper moment is crucial in battle. Some may say that it's even more important than having a sizeable amount of energy and magic to spend, which you all definitely lack at the moment."

* * *

%%%

"OOOUUUCH!"

Harry heard Seamus moan somewhere in the infirmary along many others- 'Shut up already you fucking arse! My head already hurts without your insufferable screams' -Harry as only able to complain in his thoughts, as the he felt as if the effort of actual words could prove fatal for him at the moment- 'Why on earth is Nym taking so long? I need those damned potions'

"Hello Harrykins!" -Two voices greeted him in a chorus.

"I'm Forge" -said a voice to his left

"And I'm Gred" -added a voice to his right

"But our friends" -Forge

"Though we may as well call them foes" -Gred

"Call us the Weasley Insanity Twins" -Forge

"Or Twinsanity for short" -Gred

Harry reluctantly opened his eyes to find two identical faces with ginger hair looking at him with annoyingly cheerful grins. Harry couldn't care less at the moment who the fuck they were, as all he really wanted was his painkiller potion before he could faint from pain or exhaustion. So he tried to convey that whole emotion through his eyes, as he didn't believe he would be able to find the strength to tell them.

"If you are wondering" -Forge

"Where is our most recurrent" -Gred

"Partner in crime" -Forge

"Dear shifting Tonksy" -Gred

"We must say that she was unable to come today" -Forge

"So we will be filling in for her" -Gred

"And heal you back to proper health" -Forge

"Although we won't promise" -Gred

"You are certainly right dear brother" -Forge

"That we will include your extra treat" -Gred

"Of a cuddling cheerful nap" -Forge

"As we certainly don't know you enough for that" -Gred

"Or would be inclined to do so anyway" -Forge

Some could say that if he had had any strength left, Harry would have blasted the two of them away through accidental magic alone due to the hatred their antics provoked by withholding him from his treatment. But all he managed to do was a growl in response.

"Dear brother, I do believe we are getting on his nerves" -Gred

"Then it's been a complete success I'd say!" -Forge

"But we did promise Tonksy to take care of ickle-Harry" -Gred

"I guess we actually did" -Forge

"And we don't wanna anger dear Tonksy, remember last time?" -Gred

"I think I'd rather take mother angry any time over that" -Forge

"Mother red with anger is scary" -Gred

"But an angry green Tonksy was terrifying" -Forge

Harry was thankful that after all that blabbering, they finally gave him his painkiller potion. It took a few moments longer than all the previous times, but he was finally in bliss once all the sore muscle pain had faded away. Without need any kind of encouragement, Harry took the pepper-up potion from the left twin who he believed was called Gred and drowned it. Once his body was at ease and rapidly recovering some of its energy, his resentfulness towards the twins faded as well- "Thank you. Though I'd appreciate if you do your show after the potions if there is a next time"

"Duly noted" -Gred

"And duly ignored" -Forge

"I've heard enough about the two of you and your pranks on everyone around school. So how come you didn't pull a trick on me with the potions?" -asked Harry

"Who said we didn't?" -Said Forge with an impish grin.

"We could have just given you a trick potion with delayed effect" -added Gred with an identical grin.

They held Harry in suspense for a few moments, as he wondered if he would suddenly turn into a frog or just grow antlers- 'Maybe they gave me the one that makes you stink without you been able to notice. He was a badger and even so his whole house didn't get anywhere near him for a week' -He remembered with a grimace.

"But you can rest assured" -Gred

"This one time at the very least" -Forge

"As not only we are on Tonksy's orders" -Gred

"But we wouldn't mess with anyone under Poppy's care anyway" -Forge

"We do depend on her good will to get out of some accidents" -Gred

"As well as her discretion" -Forge

"Indeed dear brother" -Gred

"The loss would be much greater" -Forge

"Much much greater than the laughs" -Gred

"We would get by pranking you right now" -Forge

"And there would be no fun in hunting a sitting duck anyway" -Gred

"Too easy for us" -Forge

"We enjoy ourselves when it's a bit of a challenge" -Gred

"Oh yes. VIP targets are our drug of choice" -Forge

"You are drooling yourself oh dear brother" -Gred

Harry chuckled- "Is there anything I should be keeping my ears open for?" -Forge

"Oh nothing major for now" -Gred

"But we are working" -Forge

"Our next big catch is Snape" -Gred

"And we need to sharpen our game" -Forge

"He has evaded our previous attempts" -Gred

"But if you are looking for fun" -Forge

"Oh you wouldn't brother" -Gred

"Thrill and excitement, we have the perfect adventure for you" -Forge

"You did! You truly did and to Tonksy's puppy no less" -Gred

"Oh he would learn of it anyway" -Forge

"I see no flaw in your logic brother of mine" -Gred

"That's why I'm the brains" -Forge

"As I carry the looks" -Gred

"But enough of that" -Forge

"Yes, the trial of valor" -Gred

"Despite some other houses disagreements to the name" -Forge

"Ought to be enough entertainment for one such as yourself" -Gred said with a wink.

"It should prove to be a piece of cake" -Forge

"Certainly if we consider your prior adventures" -Gred

"Our lovely sister dreams you would save her from such a terror" -Forge

"Slaying it with you silver sword" -Gred

"And rescuing her from the greatest peril" -Forge

Harry was beginning to get uncomfortable, as they seemed to know who he really was despite that they were clearly mocking him for the tales- "What sort of trial?" -Harry asked wishing it would be enough to divert their focus.

"Oh yes. You do remember our most certainly sane headmaster giving a speech at the welcoming feast, right?" -Gred

"The one where he made special emphasis in steering everyone away from certain southern wing in a certain third floor" -Forge

"Well, certainly a few brave lions ventured into the unknown" -Gred

"And the tales they brought back were a reward of itself" -Forge

"They say there's a legendary treasure to be found by whoever is brave enough to complete the trials" -Gred

"Though the elder ravens claim it to be a trial of wits" -Forge

"The badgers a trial of team effort" -Gred

"And the snakes plea it's one of cunning" -Forge

"But whatever it may be, they all agree in one thing" -Gred

"Treasure and adventure" -Forge

"That's actually two things dear brother" -Gred

"Well, I did claim to have the looks" -Forge

"You certainly did my brother" -Gred

"Ok, but what is it about? What are the trials?" -asked Harry.

"Oh but Harrykins" -Forge

"That is most certainly" -Gred

"And assuredly" -Forge

"A big part" -Gred

"Of the adventure" -Forge

"Of venturing into the unknown!" -claimed both of them with grins

* * *

%%%

31 Oct - Mo

Everyone hated Mondays despite whatever was there to be done. Harry certainly did, even if Charms was amongst one of his favourite classes. But this particular Monday had made it to the top of his shit list. Because it was also Halloween and he had learned it was the date his parents had been murdered, his fate sealed and to top it all, he had been shipped off to the Dursleys.

He had been desperate all morning for something to distract his mind, but the fact that classes had been cancelled due to the festivities didn't help at all. Hermione had been unaware of why he was in such a foul mood today. But thankfully, she had eventually connected the dots and realized why. She had done all she could to brighten up his day or at least offer something else for him to focus since she had figured it out. Neville had known all along, but he had chosen to respect his privacy regarding that. Harry was thankful for both of them despite he couldn't help his mood.

They were having dinner at the Great Hall and Harry couldn't stand it anymore. All the merriment and cheerful faces on the same day he had lost it all. Some would say that he should grow up and be able to look on the bright side already. But this was the very first time he spent a Halloween actually knowing what had happened all those years ago.

"Harry, what if we go on an adventure? We could explore the castle or a new section of the library" -offered Hermione with a subtle emphasis on what she would really like.

"And where would we go to explore? Do you think that adventures just pop around? It's not like we are going to find some quest within the castle for an epic reward" -rebuked Harry before it dawned on him- "Oh…"

That had caught Neville's interest- "Oh what?"

"A couple of weeks ago I met the Weasley Twins at the infirmary after WCC. They told me there is this trial of valor within the castle. Well, actually every house tries to claim it as their own trial of valor, wit, team effort or cunning. But they all seem to agree that there's something hidden in there for whoever conquers it"

"Did they explain you anything else about it?" -Neville inquired

"Nope. Just that it's located in the southern wing third floor"

"Harry, isn't that the place Dumbledore told everyone to steer away from?" -Hermione asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, but a lot of students seem to have ventured there and nothing bad happened."

"Did the Twins tell you that? The ones that some even refer to as the Twinsanity? And you are actually willing to trust them?" -she asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Look Hermione, I get it. They really don't have a rep for being the most trustworthy guys" -he said rubbing the bridge of his nose- "But I could really use for some distraction right now. And it's not as we actually have to go through with it. We could just go and peek around. Please?"

After a moment of contemplation she said- "Alright, fine! But we bolt if we think it's too much for us to handle. You say that no one has been able to complete it and we are just on our first year after all. Deal?"

Harry knew that would be the best he could get from her if he really wished for her to come along. And he definitely wasn't feeling like been all doing on his own, especially today- "Yup, it's a deal. We turn our tails and run if it gets too dangerous for us. Nev? Are you in?"

"I don't know Harry" -said Neville getting a smack on the shoulder from Hermione- "Ok Hermione, I'm going. It's not like have much else to do anyway"

They agreed they would finish their lunch, go to the library for a couple of hours and once their stomachs weren't so full they would head to the third floor and see what it was all about.

* * *

%%%

"Harry, are you sure this is a good idea?" -asked Hermione worriedly

Harry sighed in exasperation. Even though they had all agreed to it, Hermione had been trying to change his mind all along- "For the hundredth time Hermione, we'll take a look inside and we'll leave if it's too dangerous. But I would really like to check it out if we can, please?" -He paused to look directly at her, trying to alleviate her fears- "Besides, this is a school after all. All warnings aside, they wouldn't just leave dangerous stuff lying around, right?"

She paused for a moment and he could see her accepting his logic. Her shoulders seemed to relax if only the slightest bit- "Yes, I guess you are right. We've ventured enough times into the borders of the Forbidden Forest and it never seemed as dangerous as they make it sound. And no one in their sane minds would leave dangerous artifacts lying around or creatures on the loose within the castle" -she reasoned out loud- "I guess I might be a bit too wary of trusting the Twins after all we've heard."

This seemed to help Neville's nervousness as well but not entirely- "And what would we consider as too dangerous for us?"

"I don't know Nev. I guess we could ask Hermione to make a list of every possible scenario and then we could give them a score from one to five"

"Oh! And we shouldn't definitely categorize them according to what kind of danger they pose and nature of the threat. I mean, we shouldn't assume that a poisonous spider would pose the same threat as a trap coated in the same poison. Or that-"

"Hermione stop. I was just kidding. There's no way we could possibly imagine every possible scenario and even if we did, it would take us a lifetime to do so. We'll just have to wing it" -Harry interrupted- "And don't you even dare to say it is a necessary precaution as we are not stalling this any longer. Let's go"

They finally reached the third floor on the southern wing. The whole section was filled with dust, as they had apparently forgone cleaning due to the fact that it was a supposedly restricted section. But on closer inspection, they noticed there was a trail of footsteps on the dusted floor. And it seemed the whole school had come checking at least once, as the path was at least two persons wide and the stones looked almost polished when compared to rest of the hallway.

Two corners after they had entered the hallway, they found that the path lead directly into a closed door. They quietly approached it, high on alert for any indication of danger or clues of what might rest ahead. Once they were a few feet away from the door, Harry and Hermione clenched their noses and held their breaths trying to fight off their gagging. Instead of that, Neville kept approaching the door and placed his ear against it trying to listen for whatever lay on the other side.

"I can hear a breeze on the other side. Do you think this door leads outside?" -said Neville

Harry and Hermione looked at him disbelievingly before she said- "Seriously? It smells like a sewer and all you notice is a breeze on the other side of the door?"

"And on the third floor? When we haven't seen any roof gardens in the entire castle" -Harry added his two knuts.

Neville looked ashamed- "Sorry, I didn't really notice the smell. I'm used to smells a lot worse as we use dragon dung for compost in the greenhouses. Here, let me help" -He pulled out his wand and after a couple of tries he summoned a couple of bubbles over Hermione's and Harry's head- "Sprout taught us the Bubblehead Charm once when we were helping at the greenhouses. Somebody had forgone to place the proper ventilation charms on the compost deposit and we would have died otherwise. You wouldn't imagine how bad dragon dung can get to smell if you leave it in an enclosed space heated by the sun rays"

"Are you sure we won't asphyxiate with this?" -asked Harry

Neville looked affronted by his comment- "You know, even if I'm not the best in most classes you could at least thank me"

"I didn't mean it like that Nev. It's just that it feels weird as fuck looking from inside a fishbowl"

"Oh… sorry for lashing out like that. It's just that…"

"Don't apologize Nev. Harry does have much to learn on how to express himself" -said Hermione giving him an elbow to the ribs- "Won't you cast one on yourself?"

"Oh no, I'm fine. I'm way too used to this kind of stuff already. Besides, I'll be able to smell if we get close to any other dangerous stuff this way"

"Enough with the ribbing of me. Let's go as I wanna get back before dinner. This damned nutrition potion makes me feel like a whale with how much it makes me want to eat" -Harry said going to the door and trying to push it open- "Fuck… Hermione, do you remember the _alohomora_ wand movement? Because this shit is closed"

"Harry, you were supposed to know it already" -she admonished him

"I know and I did. But I didn't think I would need to break into anywhere quite so soon, so I kinda learned it for the class and then I completely forgot about it"

"It's not for breaking in! It's just a simple unlocking charm" -she huffed

"For all those times you conveniently forgot to ask for the proper key?" -asked Harry with a smile.

"Argh! I won't argue this with you again. Now let me through"

"I guess this could actually turn out to be a badger's trial after all" -Harry thought out loud as Hermione went over to unlock the door.

"I definitely hope this is not a lions trial" -commented Neville

"Now let's see what kind of thing creates a draft inside the castle" -said Hermione as she pulled the door open.

They only managed to take a step into the next room before they froze in place. It had seemed like a barren room at first glance. But when they looked at where the breeze was coming from, what they found lurking in the shadows of the wall terrified them. There was a giant mound of black fur on one corner. But then Harry realized that it was going up and down in a steady rhythm. He squeezed his eyes and managed to distinguish the shape of three heads with snouts almost as tall as each of them and wide enough to gobble at least two of them at the same time. They were three gigantic Rottweiler heads with completely black fur. All of them attached to the same body. The middle head heavily exhaled their way, provoking a soggy gust that blew their robes open. That was enough to cause Neville to squeal in panic, immediately awakening the three-headed beast. It began to stand up on his paws, acquiring a height three times their own as it growled to the three of them. Despite their shocking fear; Harry, Hermione and Neville acted as they had agreed on and bolted the place before the beast had time for any other action. Harry quickly pulled the door shut after them and ran few more feet away before stopping by Hermione's side.

"Was that a Cerberus?" -asked a heavy breathing Hermione.

"Was that Hagrid's so called Fluffy?" -followed up Harry.

"But he made it sound like a puppy! Like he would actually try to have him sleep on the bed by his feet!" -exclaimed Neville.

"Well… we should have expected it after the way he fondly talked about all the other dangerous creatures he wanted us to meet once we got to the proper class of Care of Magical Creatures" -reasoned Harry.

"You idiot!" -Exclaimed Hermione smacking Harry hard on the head- "You convinced us to come all the way up here and now you say we should have expected that from Hagrid? I told you we shouldn't have followed on the Twins idea!"

"Ouch! Yes, I can see that now! But we did as we promised and we left as soon as we knew we were over our heads."

"Argh!" -Screamed Hermione- "Next time you want an adventure to distract your mind, we're just going to explore a new section of the library! There's no way I'm doing anything like this ever again"

"Well, you say that but…" -Harry began to say only to receive a second smack to his head- "Ok, fine, I get it. No more dangerous stuff for some time" -he said with a grin before sprinting off, Hermione hot on his heels wanting to hit him again and Neville chasing after them, definitely unwilling to stay on that hallway all by himself.

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Harry was halfway through his second serving when it happened. He had been talking with Neville as Hermione had left for the loo a couple of minutes before. They heard the gigantic doors of the great hall being smashed open which immediately garnered everyone's attention. They watched as the stuttering mess of professor Quirinus Quirrell wobbled into the Great Hall. Harry thought that the man definitely lacked whatever was needed to properly teach a class on dark magic such as DADA. The man managed to present every curse and dark creature as a story to laugh about rather than anything serious or life threatening. Despite knowing from his textbooks that he should take the class seriously, it was certainly hard to do so most of the time.

The man had reached the middle of the great hall before he announced with all of his remaining strengths- "There's a troll loose in the dungeons. I thought you should know" -And he fainted.

It took a moment for the message to sink in among the students. Enough time for him to take a second look at the man and see that he actually looked terrible. Some of his clothes had been torn open and the rest were with smeared with a mixture of mud or some kind of murky blood. Thirty seconds after he had given his message, everyone finally understood the risk that a loose troll posed for beings that heavily relied on magic. Wizards did so. And trolls were widely known for their resistance to magic. Chaos and panic erupted among the students as all the professors conveyed on the Headmaster to decide on their next course of action.

"Hermione" -muttered Harry amongst the raging havoc of the great hall as he grabbed Neville by the hem of his robes.

"Hermione" -he repeated louder this time. Neville turned his way with fear and confusion written all over his face.

"Hermione!" -Harry screamed this time as he shook Neville by the shoulders.

Before Neville could say anything, Dumbledore's voice boomed over everyone's screams thanks to a _sonorus_ charm- "Silence! Prefects, escort your houses to your respective common rooms. Curfew is to begin immediately. There will be no patrols tonight. The faculty will hunt down and deal with the creature. Move! Now!"

Despite the clear orders, Harry knew he had something much more important to deal with first. He turned to the girls in his house, gave a loud whistle and all but screamed at them- "Hermione is in the loo. Where is the closest girls' bathroom?"

Tracey seemed to be one of the few to retain enough composure to understand the message and provide with an answer- "The closest is out of order because of a prank. She should be on the second floor, towards the north wing."

He nodded and turned to Neville- "Nev, go back to the common room. I'll go get Hermione and meet you there in a bit" -he paused a moment to consider the worst- "If we take longer than five, call for help."

Harry turned around and sprinted off the place without waiting for an answer, ignoring the prefect's barking orders of getting back in line. He left the great hall, taking the first flight of stairs he could find to the second floor and turned towards the north wing.

'The bathroom should be around the corner' -he thought as he kept running. He had finally reached the bathroom's hallway when he was forced to stop. He coughed and tried to hold his breath- "Merlin's beard Hermione, what did you eat? That smells like… troll"

A chill settled on his bones as he saw a path of filth and debris that lead into the girls' bathroom. The door had been demolished on the way in and he could see a massive humanoid being with nasty skin doing its best to prowl inside despite his size.

Harry turned towards the nearest wall- "You! Fat guy in the painting!" -he whispered as loud as he dared, trying not to catch the trolls attention instead- "Get the teachers to come over here. The troll is in the bathroom and there's possibly a girl inside"

The fat man on the painting looked at him with a sneer- "Listen you little prat! I'm the Great Lord Runcorn and I demand your respect! And what is all that nonsense of a troll in-"

He was cut off by a war cry coming from the troll in the bathroom, followed by the screams of a girl and the sounds of wood and pottery being smashed.

"HERMIONE!" -Harry cried and rushed to the bathroom. Horror settled into his heart at the scene he came to face with. A five meters tall troll stood in front of a pulverized booth, resting his bloodied club on one of his shoulders to be able to take a proper look at the debris, searching for his victim.

"Harry!" -a brief moment of relief rushed through him as he spotted the bushy haired witch two booths over to the left of the one the troll had smashed. The downside was that now the troll also knew his victim was still alive. Thankfully for both of them, trolls weren't the brightest of creatures so he couldn't pinpoint her precise location. Despite of that, he decided his best choice would be to smash every single booth until he could hit the jackpot.

Hermione had only three more booths left before hers was the one to be smashed, along with herself. Harry thought furiously about what option he had to get her out unharmed- 'Killing it is out of my reach. He is too big to be trapped by anything we know. All I can do is distract him and hope we don't get killed in the process.'

Two booths left. He looked around for anything he could use to draw the trolls attention off from any of them. He caught a glimpse of light coming from the floor. A broken piece of mirror that reflected one of the torches light- 'Mirror. Illusion'

One booth left. He knew what to do. He snapped his wrist making his wand spring out of its holster- " _Speculum lux_!" -He casted with all the focus he could muster. His intent directed to distracting the troll. His will fueled by his desire of getting Hermione out of there. A second troll shimmered into existence close to one of the opposite walls to Hermione. It was mimicking the true troll's every move, and it was raising its club.

No more booths left- " _Wingardium leviosa_!" -He picked up the biggest boulder he could manage to levitate and sent it flying into the troll's head. He had been not a moment too soon, as the troll had been about to smash the booth that contained a screaming Hermione awaiting for her final breath.

Luckily for them, the troll caught glimpse of the illusion as he turned around looking for the offender. The troll released a mighty war cry while hitting its chest in a show for dominance. The illusion mimicked it and despite the lack of sound coming from it, the troll apparently took offense. Harry seized the distraction and ducked behind the troll. He opened the booth, got inside and pulled Hermione into a hug trying to shush her.

"Hermione, shut it! He's distracted but I don't know for how long. Let's get out of here while we still can, got it?" -He whispered to her ear barely loud enough to be heard over the troll's roars. Upon receiving a nod in confirmation, he let go of her and turned to spy on the troll while still holding a firm grip of her off-hand. He turned around right in time to see the troll drop his club into the ground and charge towards the illusion. The troll went right through the illusion and rammed past the wall before falling into the ground. There was dust and debris falling everywhere. The illusion still remained in place if a bit blurry and he knew because of it that the troll was stirring, trying to get back on its feet.

"This is our chance, move" -He quietly said to Hermione. Preferring not catch the troll's attention, he lead her out of the bathroom crouching as quietly as they could. Once outside, they sprinted off the nearest corner and they didn't stop running until they were three corners away from the bathroom. He could have kept going due to his WCC training, but Hermione was already lagging behind completely out of breath.

Hermione bent over trying to catch her breath as Harry stood by her side looking the way they had come. He strained his ears trying to pick up any signs of them being followed by the troll. His body relaxed in relief upon realizing they had made it out in one piece. He turned to her- "Are you hurt?"

She slowly straightened herself back up. She looked at him with teary eyes. She was covered in dust and drenched in water. Her cheeks held a few bloody scratches that had already dried. He gently wiped some of her face with the hem of his robes. - "Are you okay Hermione?" -He asked softly.

She didn't say a word. Instead, she crashed her lips into his. She gave him a passionate kiss and held tight to his neck, running her fingers through his hair. He embraced her and instinctively responded in kind. A few moments passed before she let go and buried her face into the crook of his neck- "Thank you… thank you, thank you, thank you" -she said as she held herself as tight as she could against him- "Thank you for coming after me Harry"

"Don't worry. I would do it again. Anytime" -Harry whispered back as he held her as tight as he could.

"I'm being serious you prat" -she said while punching him in the chest without any real strength- "I would be dead if you hadn't showed up. And you could have got yourself killed doing that" -And she gave him another peck on the lips.

Harry looked at her in the eyes. He didn't know what was going on with the two of them. But before he could say anything, another body crashed into the two of them. The three bodies ended up piling into the ground.

"Harry! Hermione! You two are supposed to be at the common room, not fooling around the castle. There's a troll lurking around the girl's bathroom on this floor!" -Minerva admonished them.

"We know. Troll is that way. The place is a mess, you won't miss it" -Harry indicated while rubbing his head as he had hit the floor with it. The rest of the faculty who had been right behind Minerva rushed the way he had pointed.

Minerva took a closer look at their ragged looks and turned red with rage- "Mr. Potter! Don't you tell me you went looking after the troll as if you were a foolish lion! And you even dragged Hermione into it. You could have gotten the both of you killed!"

"No! He didn't!" -Interjected Hermione- "I was coming out of the bathroom when the troll cornered me inside. I don't know why Harry came looking for me, but he definitely saved my life"

"Quirrel crashed into the hall saying that there was a troll on the loose. I knew you wouldn't know so I came looking for you. But the troll was supposed to be in the dungeons, how come it ended up all the way here?" -asked Harry as he turned to Minerva.

"We can't tell for certain. There was a clear path of destruction down at the dungeons, but no troll in sight. We were trying to track it down when one of the portraits said it had been spotted near the girls bathroom up here. We'll be seeing into this for sure, but for now I should take you down to the infirmary." -Minerva aimed to walk away but paused for a moment- "Harry, I must offer my apologies for accusing you of trying to hunt down the troll. And it seems I must thank you for rescuing one of our ravens as well"

"Anytime" -Harry simply replied, provoking a small smile and a blush on Hermione who was standing slightly behind him. Harry turned and offered a hand to her, but she chose to clutch to his arm instead and together they followed Minerva down to the infirmary.

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 **A/N 01:**


	9. 009 Dragon Knucklebones

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its universe belong to JK Rowling or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just fool around with its universe and characters.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Angela and its universe (Inheritance Cycle) belong to Christopher Paolini or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Lorcan, Rowan and its universe (Throne of Glass series) belong to Sarah J. Maas or whichever company really has its rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**

 **A/N FAQ: I'm gonna repeat this just in case… For this universe, Hogwarts begins at 15yo. For this universe, Tonks is two years older than Harry.**

 _ **I wanna thank my awesome brother for acting as my Alpha and my**_ **Batata** _**for proofreading part of my writing.**_

 **And I also want to thank every reader who takes that little extra time to review my fic. I really appreciate the feedback you provide.**

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 **The wandering path of a Battlemage**

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 **CHAPTER 009**

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01 Nov - Tu

Harry woke up the next day still on his infirmary bed. The previous night Poppy ran a thorough examination on both of them, but their greatest injury had been all but a few scratches. Despite that, Poppy had instructed them to remain in the hospital wing for the night so they wouldn't have to deal with their housemates until the next day. She wanted to give them some time to recover after the experience.

"I haven't slept this good in a while" -said Harry while stirring awake.

"That may be because it's already past noon" -said Poppy from somewhere close by.

Suddenly, Harry's brain registered the information and realized he was in deep shit as he had skipped three of the Potions four hours class. He snapped awake and off the bed, frantically looking around for his robes- 'Surely it will be better if I'm late instead of not showing up at all. Snape is going to have my hide for this as well as give me detentions until the day I graduate if I don't' -He thought as he tried to get dressed as quickly as he could.

"Relax Harry. The dungeons were a wreck, especially the Potions classroom. No one will be attending any Potion or Ghoul Studies classes for a week at the very least" -said Poppy bringing him to a halt- "You can go on and celebrate, everyone did at breakfast after all"

Instead of celebrating, he jumped back in bed and closed his eyes in blissful relaxation as he released a deep sigh- "No greasy git for at least a week" -He whispered to himself. After a moment, he sat back up and looked around the infirmary. Hermione's bed was empty and there wasn't anyone else at the infirmary besides Poppy and himself- "Where's Hermione?"

"She woke up at sunrise as it seems to be her usual habit. After a quick check-up to see that she was doing fine, I released her so she could get back to her daily routine. Sometimes the best way to overcome traumatic experiences is to continue living as one has been used to and eventually realize that everything important has prevailed." -Harry only hummed in acknowledgement- "Once you are awake and you feel that you are ready to leave, I'll make you a few routine questions and then you may go as well"

Harry absentmindedly nodded. There was something in the room that troubled him, and he didn't know what. He had to count every bed before he was able to realize- "There are two other beds missing. Did anyone else get hurt last night?" -He asked with trepidation.

Poppy didn't respond immediately. Instead she looked at him with a grim face and seemed to contemplate what to say for a moment- "You are eventually going to hear about this anyway, so I might just tell you the truth" -She took a deep breath trying to compose herself- "Last night, the two of you weren't the only ones to come across that wretched creature. Two other students… two badgers ran into it, they came across with the troll on the way to their common room. Sadly, they weren't as lucky as the two of you. The troll left them with grievous injuries; it probably thought they were already dead by the state we found them. But by the time anyone arrived, their status had turned to terminal already. There is nothing I could have possibly done to save them" -She said before wiping a single tear.

Harry suddenly felt disgusted with himself. Not a moment ago, he had felt joy over the aftermath of the troll's attack. He and Hermione had survived almost unscratched and they wouldn't be seeing Snape for a week at the very least. But now he knew two lives had been lost- 'Two badgers' -Fear creeped inside his bones- "Was…" -He choked on his own words- "Was it Nym any of them? Is she alright?"

Poppy offered him a small smile- "No, she wasn't one of them. But she must be feeling heartbroken as they were two of her classmates. All of them are probably; the badgers are very close to one another after all."

They remained silent for a moment, before Harry couldn't help himself but ask- "Who were they?"

Poppy seemed to doubt for a moment whether she should reveal that piece of information- "They were Anthony Ricket and Malcolm Stebbins" -She said with a solemn face

Harry remained sitting with a solemn face as well but he couldn't help his mind from going astray- 'At least I don't even know who the fuck they were. But I should check on Nym anyway'

Half an hour later Harry had successfully passed each of Poppy's examination; both physical and emotional. He headed down to the great hall, as lunch was already underway.

He entered the great hall and immediately all the noise was reduced into a murmur. He didn't care though; he had friends he had to check on and a life to continue. They could gossip as much as they wanted for all he cared.

Harry looked along the ravens table unable to find Hermione. He did find Neville having lunch and they offered each other a smile and a nod in silent greetings. He furrowed his eyebrows and gave Neville a questioning look, which he seemed to pick up on right away as he nodded towards the badgers table.

It wasn't hard at all to find the speck of blue among all the golden yellow robes. Hermione was sitting and having a whispered conversation with Tonks, who wasn't her usual cheerful self. Taking a second look across the badgers table, he knew that the news about their fallen housemates had already spread and it was clear that the ones on second year were the most affected by it.

He approached both girls from behind and placed a hand on each of their shoulders in order to gain their attention- "Hey, how are you both?" -He said with a smile trying to appear as supportive as he possibly could.

Tonks looked up to him with puffy eyes from crying so much but gave him a warm smile nonetheless- "Welcome back Harry. I'm thankful both of you got out of it without getting hurt" -She said as she place her hand over his and squeezed it.

Hermione on the other hand looked a little tense and had bags under her eyes. She looked up at him with hesitation before standing up and giving him a hug- "Thank you Harry. I would have ended up like them if it hadn't been because of you" -She said into his ear.

"Don't worry. I would have gone after you even if I had known the troll would be there"

She tightened her embrace as he felt her nodding with her head. She finally let go and turned towards Tonks- "Tonks… will you please help me with that?"

Tonks seemed reluctant to accept to whatever was going on, but after a moment she gave a sigh as she nodded- "Yes. I promise I will. But I still believe you are wrong about it"

"Thanks" -Said Hermione before turning back to Harry- "I have some stuff to do. I guess I'll see you later" -She said with teary eyes before giving him a friendly goodbye kiss on the cheek- "I'm sorry about this Harry…" -She whispered as she walked away, unheard by anyone but herself.

Harry was left there standing, wanting to run after her and ask if she was really okay. He also wanted to know what would become of them, as he had dreamt all night about their kiss. But he was brought back to reality by Tonks pulling on his robes, indicating for him to sit on Hermione's vacant seat.

"Don't worry, she will tell you once she has sorted it out" -Said Tonks with a slightly faked smile.

'But… what's there to be sorted out?' -Harry thought to himself.

He took a sit by Tonks side and bumped shoulders with her- "And how are you doing?"

Her eyes welled up with unshed tears as she sniffed- "Getting better" -Was all she said for a couple of moments- "It was hard to find out, for all of us inside Hufflepuff. We're very close to one another, you know. Even if I'm sort of a weird badger because I tend to wander off by my own most of the time" -She sniffed again- "We knew something bad had happened to them last night when we couldn't find them. But we never expected them to be gone by the time we woke up today… Pomona announced it this morning at our common room. The whole house was shaken by the news, but the blow was much harder on us. We were their yearmates after all."

A single tear began to trickle down her cheek. Harry placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug, doing his best to offer her some kind of comfort- "Not one of us was able to attend classes after that and only a few managed to come down for lunch" -She paused and suddenly began to squeeze the air out of Harry as she sniffed harder this time- "I was terrified when I heard the gossip about you two not making it back to the ravens tower last night. You are like me, and possibly the only one capable of ever understanding how it feels to be like this. And not only that but you are family as well, even if distant and unknown until this year."

Harry felt as if he was being choked. Tonks had insisted many times before on the two of them being a family of sorts. But this was the very first time in his whole memory to know someone who worried about him as such.

She slightly eased her grip on him- "Don't get me wrong, I was worried sick about Hermione too. She never judged me over anything and she's definitely fun to study with, even if she can get a little overwhelming at times."

His stomach grumbled as he was considering what to say, so he decided he could get some lunch as they chatted some more. But before he could grab anything to eat, all the food and cutlery disappeared from the tables. His dismayed face must have been hilarious, because Tonks couldn't herself from laughing at him for several minutes- "Come, I'll show you down to the kitchen's. Hermione told me you would be having Ghoul Studies but I've heard most of the dungeons were wrecked and we are excused from classes today"

"Thanks, I really wasn't looking forward to spend the rest of the day on an empty stomach" -Said Harry.

They headed down to the basements and Tonks showed him the _secret_ entrance to the kitchens, where he was met by hundreds of house-elves eager to serve or help them with whatever they could. Harry told her all about the trial doors and the Cerberus incident over a hearty meal. Despite she appeared to have already heard all of it from Hermione, Tonks had shown interest on his view from the stories. After that, they headed out to the castle grounds where they talked away the rest of the afternoon. Sundown was approaching fast when they decided to part ways and head for their respective common rooms until dinner was served.

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02 Nov - We

Harry had spent the rest of the previous evening with Neville and the rest of the raven guys. Along with Neville, they told Oliver and Roger all about the trials and the Cerberus they came across and then he proceeded to recount to the three of them his encounter with the troll. Despite he insisted that he had only managed to fool the troll for enough time to get Hermione out of there, they all treated him like a hero. After that, they spent the rest of the evening alternating between jokes and study.

He hadn't been able to find Hermione until dinner, but even then she sat amongst the raven girls instead of with him. When they were all back to the common room, she excused herself and went to bed early arguing that she was feeling tired before he got any chance to talk with her in private. He thought it wouldn't be a problem, as he could still catch her for breakfast today. But he hadn't been so lucky and couldn't find Hermione until now, already at their Transfiguration class where she had taken a seat amongst the girls and away from him once again.

Harry's moping probably wasn't as subtle as he had believed since Neville certainly took notice a nudged him in the ribs- "Relax, I talked with her yesterday morning and she was still shaken over the incident"

"I don't know what you are talking about" -Mumbled Harry only to find Neville giving him a knowing look- "Okay, fine. But I feel like she's avoiding me and I can't figure out why"

"Look… I know it was you who rescued her, but maybe you bring back her memories of being defenseless against the troll." -said Neville.

Harry opened his mouth to argue back but held his tongue. He could understand his logic even if it was slightly unfair towards him. Despite that he could understand it if it were like that, it didn't mean he would be feeling any better after the fact.

"I'm sure she'll come around it by the end of the weekend, her rationality wouldn't allow it any other way after all" -added Neville while patting him on the back- "Now focus on our class and everything will be back to normal before you know it. You do enjoy Transfiguration after all"

Harry leaned back on his seat and gave a long sigh; he stayed that way for a moment as he thought about it. Having made up his mind on giving her however long she may need to come to term with it, he sat back straight- "Ok, I get your point. So let's step it up with this as I can't wait to learn the Draconifors Spell and I'll be damned if Weasley keeps holding back the whole class from getting to it"

"Huh? And what do you plan to do about that? I don't think it would help to smash his head against the books"

"You did notice that most Transfiguration spells are nearly invisible, right?" -Asked Harry getting a nod of confirmation from Neville- "Well, I've decided we'll let him try a couple of times before we… provide with some remote assistance."

"What do you mean by us? And how are you planning to fool him AND Minerva anyway?"

Harry broke into a devilish grin- "That my dear Nev is where you come in. You will assist me by providing a distraction for Minnie while I perform the spell, so when she turns back to Ron she will believe he has succeeded on the task. As for Ron himself… I'll make sure to time it right, but I doubt he would notice any foul play anyway"

Neville looked at him with disbelief for a moment- "Are you sure you are not a snake in disguise? And the ember ring in your eye seems to glint a little brighter whenever you come up with any mischief; it's a little scary if I'm being honest." -He kept quiet for a moment as he seemed to think about it- "But fine, I'll help you with it. Even if I'm not the best at casting every spell successfully like you, the theory is still going rather too slow for my tastes. Just make sure we don't get caught"

"Don't you worry Nev, as long as you are able to distract Minnie no one will be noticing. And even if they do, I doubt they would rat on us once they realize our noble intentions. Besides, you just need to come up with stuff to ask Minerva about and you could always feign ignorance if I get caught"

Neville stifled a chuckle as he shook his head- "No bloody way. I might not be as brave as the lions, but I'm certainly not going to be selfish like a snake. I already let you go to warn Hermione by yourself and that ended up on you facing an adult troll on your own in order to save her. From now on, I'm on gonna do my best to stand by my friends. So I'll start with and build on my courage so you may count on me the next time." -He said proudly- "But do try not to get us against any other troll until our seventh year if you could; or giant three-headed dogs for that matter." -He pleaded in an afterthought.

Harry laughed quietly, trying not to disrupt the class- "That's certainly fine by me. I have more than enough in my plate having to face Snape's attitude every week." -Upon seeing the face of terror on Neville once he remembered his constant confrontations with Snape, he clamped his mouth shut trying to avoid bursting in laughter- "Don't you worry, I'll give you a free pass on that until you manage to hear him without shivering down your spine"

"Oh thank Merlin's beard" -Neville murmured as he relaxed on his seat.

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5 Nov - Fr

"Harry, please stay for a moment before your next class" -Angela said outloud.

Harry nodded in agreement before turning to Neville- "You go on ahead. You have your music class whereas I have WCC next. So there's no point in waiting for me"

Neville only snorted in response- "It's not like you would actually need any backup anyway, its Angela after all. She may have her quirks, but I doubt she would hurt a fly"

"Yeah, I guess she's no Snape after all" -Harry agreed with a chuckle- "Alright then, I'll meet you guys back at the common room before dinner"

"Gotcha. And remember not to take too long or Lorcan won't be leaving anything left of you to return to the tower" -Neville replied with a cheeky grin. A shiver run down Harry's spine upon remembering the first and last time he had been late for WCC.

He approached Angela's desk and waited until everyone had packed and left the classroom. Once they were alone in the classroom, she closed and locked the door with a key before pulling out her wand and tapping on certain runes engraved on the door frame. Once she was satisfied, she turned around- "There, that should keep anyone from either eavesdropping or interrupting" -she said with a smile before going behind her desk and pulling out a bottle of wine- "Would you like some?"

The wine had a fragrant and sweet smell- "No, thanks. I have WCC with Lorcan after this and I barely dare to have a snack before his classes, never mind a glass of wine. Aside from the fact that we are at school and I'm much too young for it" -He answered with a polite smile.

Angela looked at him with her usual cheerful face that didn't allow anyone to discern anything about her real thoughts before shrugging- "Fine by me, I wouldn't have said anything anyway." -She served herself a glass and took a sip of it. She savoured the wine while reclining on the back of her padded chair and sighed in bliss- "So, what did you need?" -asked Angela.

Harry felt perplexed for a moment- "Angela, it was you who asked me to stay behind"

Angela hummed deeply in thought- "I guess Solembum did rub off on me. He and his race always seemed to be ruled by the whims of fate after all" -She paused for a moment as if she were in deep consideration- "Well then, if you don't know what you need you may know what you want after all."

"Listen, I don't want to be rude but I'd rather not be late for WCC. Lorcan is merciless with those who are late for his class and I'd rather not tempt fate"

"Don't you worry about Lorcan, just tell him I held you entertained and he'll let it pass" -She said waving her hand nonchalantly before her cheerful smile turned into an mischievous grin- "As for fate, I believe I could help you with that after all"

Harry felt a dreadful feeling creeping up her bones- "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Oh don't you worry about it, it's no trade for your soul. But would you like your fortune told?"

Harry relaxed if only a little, but his innermost feeling of trepidation wouldn't go away- "I thought that Divination was extremely unreliable and that it only had significant meaning when it happened of its own accord"

"Oh, that's certainly true but only for the kind they teach you at school. Many societies have different ways of foretelling the future. Not all of them are precise or accurate at all, but I can assure you that mine is" -she said maintaining her devilish smile.

"And why would you offer me something like that?"

"Because I like to follow where the interesting things happens, and this time it has lead me right here where it seems that you are to become the centre of all of it" -Harry seemed reluctant to accept the offer, so she carried on- "Look, I have no ill intentions with it, I wouldn't do it if you don't want me to. I did help a number of interesting people after all: a mother who had trapped herself, a man blinded with revenge, I helped a rider to overcome his fate and another to survive his past; and then I travelled into another war before I helped two others to recover the one who they thought was already lost. But understand that to know one's fate can be a terrible thing. You must be sure of your decision; I know that some of them would have preferred not to know in advance."

Harry held his tongue. Part of him wanted to remain in blissful ignorance, but the side that had landed him amongst the ravens lusted for the knowledge- 'It's not like I have a pending destiny, it might just tell me what I'll grow up to be or what we'll be having for dinner. Although I doubt Angela would be this interested in me if all there is to know about my future is my career and my meals. I do wonder if it could tell me if things will work out with Hermione' -Throwing caution aside, he made up his mind- "Alright, I want to know what awaits me in my future"

"Excellent! Now… where did I hide them this time…" -Angela murmured to outloud. She opened one of her drawers and pulled out a satchel. From inside of it, she began to place all sort of things on her desk. She carried plenty of different herbs and phials as well as many other trinkets. At one moment she pulled out a crystal ball and looked at it with furrowed brows- "What is this crap doing in here?" -She said before throwing it into the trash.

Amongst other oddities she held within her satchel, she pulled out a helmet, some crystalline twinblades and an unremarkable wooden rod. Out of curiosity about why would she keep such an inconspicuous object, he reached out with his hand for the rod- "I wouldn't do that if I were you" -He heard slightly too late. As soon as he had touched the rod a shock of electricity exploded through his body, launching him over the backrest of his chair as he fell to the floor, writhing. The pain slowly faded, leaving him gasping for air. Angela stood up and looked at him from across her desk- "I doubt you'll reach far in life if you retain that kind of caution" -She said casually.

"What the hell was that?" -He exclaimed.

"An old artifact I've had for a long time"

"Pray tell what is it for?"

"I've had it for so long that its purpose have melted into the rest of my memory, which isn't as good as it used to be"

"The rest of your memory? But you don't even look like you are in your forties"

Dimples appeared on Angela's cheeks- "I'm flattered, but don't be deceived; I'm much older than I look." -She paused for a moment as if trying to recall something- "Huh, I do have a weird feeling of déjà vu" -She said and shrugged her shoulders before going back to rummage through her stuff.

Harry got back to his seat and he was rubbing off the numbness of his arm when she exclaimed- "Here it is!" -She held a small leather pouch high above everything else. She put it in her pocket before throwing everything back inside her satchel. Once everything had been _carefully_ put away, she poured the contents of the leather pouch over a cloth she had placed on the table. It was filled with a handful of smooth bones, each slightly longer than a finger. Runes and other symbols were inscribed along their sides- "These are the knucklebones of a dragon and they have true power, unlike the crystal ball I used to carry around for show. They do not lie, but understanding them can become incredibly convoluted at times. I'll warn you that one may often arrive at the wrong conclusions, as their meaning is not always clear until one is able to look at them from afar. But you shouldn't fret about what has yet to occur, as the only way the future can harm us is by causing worry." -She said while looking at him- "So I must ask you again Harry, are you sure you want to know?"

Harry was having cold feet over the idea, as he had certainly felt a rush of power coming from the bones when she revealed them- 'But she is right, the only way my future can harm me is by causing me worry. And if I back away now, I will have already admitted defeat against my fear of whatever the future may hold' -He nodded once- "Yes, I'm certain of it. Cast the bones for me"

Angela simply offered him a proud smile before turning her attention back to the bones. She cupped them with both of her hands and brought them close to her face as she began to murmur. After a moment of tension and suspense, she loudly intoned- " _Manin! Wyrda! Hügin!_ " -And tossed them onto the cloth.

Harry had half expected a colourful show of lights or a puff of smoke to happen, but nothing as such occurred. Angela seemed to carefully and curiously inspect them for a moment- "Oh right, I forgot about my new sticky situation" -she exclaimed with a giggle. Harry had to restrain himself from face palming in frustration.

She grabbed the bones only with her left hand this time and held her wand on her right. She held her hand closed as she repeated the murmur, before she suddenly opened it pointing with her wand at the bones in her hand and intoned again- " _Manin! Wyrda! Hügin!_ " -This time a beam of light did erupt from her wand and impacted on the bones. Before anything had any chance to happen, she tossed them once more into the cloth. Crackling electricity bounced rampant over the bones. When the light show cleared, new runes had been inscribed into the upper facets of some of the bones. Nothing else had sustained any damage.

Angela gave a low whistle- "That never happened before… but this certainly is going to prove interesting after all, I was half afraid you would be right about this only telling us your meals and career choices"

"Hold on a moment, I never said that out loud"

"Ups? Well, it's your fault for not keeping up your mind shields"

"You mean my Occlumency?"

"Yes, now shush as I need to concentrate in order to discern what could this mean for you" -She said and for the first time since he had met her, she her expression turned into one of utter concentration.

After a few minutes of examining the bones without moving a single one of them, Angela pulled out a book from her satchel and began leafing through it apparently looking for a reference on the new symbols on the bones. Harry was starting to get bored when she finally snapped the book closed and drank the remainder of her wine- "Kiddo, it seems I certainly wasn't kidding when I said you would be the centre of some interesting stuff regardless of how cryptic this is" -She said as she served herself another glass, but instead of drinking it she just played with the liquid inside her glass.

After a few moments of silence, Harry realized he would actually have to ask- "I assure you I'm ready to listen to whatever you have found"

"Oh Harry… and I assure you'll regret those words before you leave. But it's too late now to back away." -She said with a grin before setting down her glass.

"Let's start with the easiest of them all." -She pointed to a couple of bones mixed together where only two shapes were clear to him: a rose blossom and a whirlwind- "Your love life is bound to be filled with turmoil. You'll touch and drag towards you many hearts, but how it will all end I cannot see. All I can advise you from it, is to tread carefully unless you want everything in your way to be left broken"

"Your hardships" -She pointed to another set of bones. He saw one of the newly carved symbols was amongst them: a seven-pointed star. He was also able to distinguish a wandering line and another omen he had wished he wouldn't find: the grim- "I had to look up regarding the star but it seems to be simply stating the obvious, seven times. From the way this bones have arranged themselves, the wandering line means you'll have a life of many choices that will affect greatly those who surround you. This will grant you freedom on your path, but not all of them will lead to the life you deeply desire. Despite of that, you are bound to courtship death seven times before you are able to overcome whatever endeavour awaits you"

"But this set of bones is what perplexes me the most" -She said pointing another group where all he could distinguish were a long line with a circle resting on it and a lightning bolt- "The line with the circle signifies infinity or long life. It's not the first time I come across with it when meeting a human but still it doesn't cease to amuse me" -She said with a smile, before a shadow seemed to settle over her face- "But the lightning bolt is supposed to be its complete opposite. It is most commonly meant to be death, but arranged in this pattern it could mean something completely new. The only certainty is that whatever happens, it will be swift as the lightning that symbolizes it."

Harry considered what she told him. From everything he had just learned, the only consolation he could find was that her reading of the lightning bolt could be completely wrong and be simply related to his scar. He considered for a moment whether he should reveal it to her- 'I guess she already knows way more than others ever will, as I certainly won't be telling anyone about this. Besides, I have a feeling she can be trusted despite her quirks' -By the time he made up his mind, Harry had forgotten a tiny detail that he remembered upon seeing her face of excitement- "Oh fuck. You know it's supposed to be rude to intrude in other people's minds, right?"

"Oh it's not my fault if you don't guard your mind and let it broadcast for anyone capable of listening" -She argued with a gleeful smile- "Now show me! I can barely believe you turned out to be this interesting so soon!"

Harry relaxed himself and released his morphing over the scar- "Huh… it feels weird to have it out in the open now. What?" -He asked when he saw Angela's dumbfounded face.

"That's it?" -She asked with disbelief.

"Of course that's it, what did you expect? Hadn't you seen it inside my mind already?"

"I wasn't inside your mind; I just picked on your stray thoughts"

"And the difference is what exactly?"

"I'll tell you once you've mastered your Occlumency shields. Now, can't you do anything else?"

Harry sighed in exasperation- "Not much so far. I'm somewhat new to being a Metamorphmagus and I can only change my hair colour and maintain minor facial morphings for now. Nym is the true expert on changing but her problem instead is keeping it stable without fully focusing on it."

Angela gave a sigh that seemed to deflate her whole being- "Well, I guess I might have been expecting too much from it."

Harry made an effort of not making his frustration obvious- 'I know I wouldn't want the attention if I had it but… how can she dismiss so easily an ability to transform who you are?!' -Angela's clearing of her throat reminded him of something- "Well?"

"Well what?" -she retorted with a smile

"I know you were… listening to my thoughts or however you might wanna call it. So how come you are so nonchalant about me being a Metamorphmagus?"

"Because you are not the first one I meet capable of similar things, though I admit your potential is greater than most. But so far it's not very amusing" -she explained shrugging her shoulders- "And I doubt you would want me go all fan-girl over your real identity, not that it was actually a secret anyone has been able to keep from me mind you"

"I-" -Harry paused for a moment to really think about it- "I guess you are right… anyone who likes to dabble in Transfiguration should be able to replicate my skills so far." -Harry rubbed his face in an effort to clear his mind and get back on track- "So what do you think about my scar? Could your knucklebones be actually referring to it?"

Angela hummed as she thought about it for a moment- "It could be related… but I highly doubt it. Your scar is a marking from your past, whereas the knucklebones are supposed to be a way of foretelling the future. It could mean that your scar will have a significant impact at some moment along your life, but I'd put my money and say it's completely unrelated or at least not entirely relevant to whatever it may refer to" -She gave another pause as furrowed her eyebrows- "There is saying… Yesterday is history; tomorrow is a mistery; but today is a gift and that is why it is called present. So heed my warning Harry and live your life without worrying about what has yet to come"

Harry ran a hand through his hair as he leaned back on his chair- "Yeah… but that's easier said than done"

Angela simply smiled at him- "I guarantee that you'll feel better once you're out in the sun" -Harry didn't respond and just stayed there for a moment- "Go on now, I'll tell Lorcan you say hi. Just go and ponder on what we've discussed for a while, but don't let it rule your path"

Harry rose from his chair still deep in thought and headed for the door. Angela walked with him and reached with her wand to unlock the rune-wards but held her hand from it- "I would also advise you to keep all of this to yourself, as you never know who might be listening. And you should probably improve your Occlumency as soon as possible, as it will help you keep your thoughts to yourself" -She said with a wink and unlocked the door so he could go for a stroll.

* * *

%%%

07 Nov - Mo

Hermione had avoided him throughout the weekend unlike Neville's prediction. His frustration in the subject was starting to get out of hand. He really wanted to find why she was avoiding him. He had saved her life and then she had kissed him. They had been good friends before all of that. The question was what could he do now to help her overcome her trauma over being cornered by the troll? He was dying to know where that kiss could lead them, but if it really came to it he would much rather keep her as his friend. He would do anything before losing the girl who had become his very first true friend.- 'I'd jump into the depths of hell and fight to get her back if that is what it would take…' -Harry finally made up his mind and decided to corner her after Charms on their way to lunch.

"Harry, please stay for a moment before you head off to lunch" -Flitwick said outloud.

Harry hit his forehead against the desk in frustration and muttered- "Crap" -Which got a raised eyebrow from Flitwick but refrained from making any comment.

Harry remained on his seat as he looked at Hermione hurriedly leaving the classroom while looking at her feet. Harry sighed- 'I guess I'll catch her after magical creatures… since I doubt I'll be able to find her again before that'

Once everyone had left, he stood and approached Flitwick's desk. He offered a bow to him as the lions had been doing since their very first class- "Yes professor? Why is it you required me to stay behind?"

Flitwick laughed heartedly- "Don't you worry Harry. And please, drop all that bowing nonsense. I only enforce it amongst my lions to instill some discipline as they can easily get out of hand. Although I do enjoy occasionally when those who wrongfully feel superior due to their birth grudgingly do so" -Harry straightened up and Flitwick seemed to carefully consider him for a moment- "But I do believe it would be neither case for you"

"Thanks… i guess"

"I do believe you appreciate not to be considered a bigot, but I do hope you don't believe it would be a dishonor to be considered one of my lions" -He said with a raised eyebrows.

"No, no. I can assure you I didn't mean it like that. I'm happy to be a raven but I wouldn't have minded to be a lion aside from some of the company" -Harry hastily denied.

Flitwick gave a tired sigh- "I think I know who you might be referring to. And despite bravery is a noble quality, it doesn't seem to always be accompanied with wit"

"Regardless of that" -Flitwick continued on his usual self- "I wanted to discuss with you your encounter with the troll"

"I mean no offence professor, but I already discussed the events with Minerva. And Poppy made sure Hermione and I were feeling well right after the ordeal"

"Oh yes, I know you both certainly did. First of all, as Gryffindor's Head of House I wanted to commend you on your bravery for facing such a foe in order to save your friend" -He said with a proud smile

"Thank you professor" -He said somewhat embarrassed and bowed out of instinct.

"But that isn't why I truly asked you to stay behind. Minerva proudly recounted to the whole faculty how you managed to get both of you out of there alive. And I do believe you performed some kind of illusion spell, am I right?"

"Yes professor" -Harry was getting worried if he was about to be told off for practicing magic they hadn't been taught.

Flitwick made a knowing smile- "Don't you worry Harry. As most of the faculty are scholars by heart and professors by profession, hardly any of us would reprimand a student for advancing their studies on their own. That is as long as they are sure their experimentations are not dangerous or indulges in any kind of dark magic" -He paused momentarily in order to allow Harry to ease his nerves- "Au contraire, I wish to offer you my assistance if you ever need one"

"Huh?"

Flitwick chuckled at his loss for words- "Illusory magic is one of the many branches of the Charms field" -he explained- "And as such, I believe I'm the one amongst your professors better suited to instruct and guide you in this branch"

"That would be amazing" -exclaimed Harry, before he grudgingly admitted- "But I doubt I could carry on with my current schedule plus the extra tutoring"

"Nonsense! I do not intend by any means to hold your hand on your pursuit for knowledge. What I offer instead is that I'll recommend you on what books you would find most useful to read and we can hold monthly meetings to review your progress and provide you with any proper tutoring you may need" -Flitwick explained- "That is not to say that I wouldn't answer your doubts or provide with assistance during the rest of the month. I actually encourage you to consult with me on whatever you may need to clear up your doubts or if you would like a watchful eye whenever you try a new spell that you are having doubts on"

Harry thought about the offer as he unconsciously nodded- "I would certainly like to work with you professor in such a way"

"Marvellous! Now, I ran the idea with Minerva before I decided to approach you and she told me you were already occupied with her every Saturday for tea. So I propose that we meet every first Sunday of the month for tea as well. Naturally, we would begin this very next Sunday so you won't be missing on the chance for the rest of November. Would you agree with these arrangements Harry?"

This time Harry nodded with enthusiasm and a big smile- "I would be delighted! As a matter of fact, illusions were the first piece of magic I accidentally discovered during my childhood and I have been particularly interested on it since Minerva revealed the wizarding world to me"

Flitwick's smile turned sad despite he held it in place; as he had apparently heard from his childhood beforehand- "I'm glad to see you are not tormented by your past as I feared when I heard from it. Minerva spent a whole week on a warpath against Albus from the moment she got back from your meeting"

Harry wasn't thrilled to hear that his backstory was common knowledge amongst the faculty, but he was thankful that regardless of that it hadn't spread to the student body and they had also seemingly respected his choice for anonymity.- "Me too…" -He whispered just as a means to fill the silence.

Flitwick seemed to regret having meddled into his past so soon. Once it became clear nothing else of importance would be said, he said- "I won't hold you any longer or you'll completely miss your lunch. I'll await eagerly for our first session this coming Sunday"

Harry felt thankful over being dismissed and gave a short nod in farewell before quietly leaving the classroom.

* * *

%%%

Luckily for Harry, Hagrid had decided that today they would hold a practical lesson near the borders of the Forbidden Forest; where they got to meet a list of expressly tame creatures that had previously been approved by Minerva. That meant that now on their way back to the castle Harry would have the perfect opportunity to approach Hermione on an open field where she wouldn't be able to sneak away from him.

She had hurried back to the castle as soon as Hagrid had dismissed the class, so Harry was forced to run after her.

"Hermione! Wait up, please" -He said grabbing her by the shoulder- "Look, I know the whole troll situation was scary but I wanna help you get over it. I want us to be able to hang up together again and… you know… maybe we-"

Hermione had to stifle a sad laugh as her eyes welled up and she looked away from him.- "Harry, I…" -She tried to say with a broken voice- "I… it's not because of the troll that I've been avoiding you" -She finally admitted with her eyes closed as a few tears began to fall.

"But… Neville said… then why?" -Harry felt a pit starting to form in his stomach.

"It's because of you and that kiss" -She admitted after some struggle- "But it's not because of what you think!"

Pain spread over Harry's chest, he closed his eyes fought it back trying to push away the tears that wanted to come out.- "If it's not because of the troll then there aren't many other options left" -He said through gritted teeth.

"It's not because of you but because of me" -She said with her face full of tears- "You… you saved my life twice already and I… Poppy's emotional checkup made me remember something I read. They call it misattribution of arousal" -She said flushing furiously- "And it explains that during situations of fear one may confuse it with… falling in love"

Harry was speechless as he couldn't figure out if whatever was happening would be good or bad for him.- "I don't get it… if you think that… that you are falling for me, then why are you avoiding me so much?"

Hermione refused to look at him as she mumbled- "Because I wouldn't want to be with you for the wrong reasons… I feel like I really like you, but I fear that it might be because you saved me when I fell from my broom and then you rescued me from that troll" -She turned to look at him as her tears fell freely- "And I don't want to be with you simply because I'm confused. You… you don't deserve something like that, you deserve better!"

Harry couldn't wrap his mind around it- "But Hermione, I-"

She shook her head- "No Harry. I couldn't do that to you. I… I need you to give me some space and time. I don't want to waste your time and eventually break your heart because I was uncertain of how I felt." -She paused in hesitation for a moment- "Just give me a couple of weeks to clear up my mind. I'm sure it will go away by then and we'll be able to go back to being friends" -She said before she turned and ran away leaving a trail of tears behind her.

Harry stood there. He stood there watching how she ran away from him. He knew they hadn't known each other for that long, but it pained him nonetheless- "But… I…" -He whispered by himself- "I guess I can give you some time"

He felt a chill set over his skin and he thought the wind was blowing cold, despite the fact that not a single blade of grass moved. He decided he would head to WCC and get some warm back before he could catch a cold.

'It's just a week or so that she needs. Then we can go back to being friends if nothing else' -He thought to himself as he lay in bed that night. He had raised the heat and pulled out some extra covers. But the chill never left that day nor did the hollow he felt inside.

* * *

 **.%%%**

* * *

 **A/N 01: Simply out of curiosity… has any of you ever read** _ **inheritance cycle**_ **or** _ **throne of glass**_ **series?**


	10. 010 Forbidden Forest

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its universe belong to JK Rowling or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just fool around with its universe and characters.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Angela and its universe (Inheritance Cycle) belong to Christopher Paolini or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Lorcan, Rowan and its universe (Throne of Glass series) belong to Sarah J. Maas or whichever company really has its rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**

 **A/N 00: I hope you all remember my warnings over explicit content.**

 _ **I wanna thank my awesome brother for acting as my Alpha and my**_ **Batata** _**for proofreading part of my writing.**_

 _ **## I also wanna thank my mum for going as far as to follow me into the depths of hell- I mean fanfiction- and post extremely motherly-embarrassing comments as if we were on facebook. She's even going as far as to read this story from google translate, so I can only imagine what kind of trash she is actually reading. Thank you mother.**_

 **And I also want to thank every reader who takes that little extra time to review my fic. I really appreciate the feedback you provide.**

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 ** **.%%%****

* * *

 **The wandering path of a Battlemage**

############

 **CHAPTER 010**

############

05 Dec - Sa

A month had gone by and she had yet to come back. It's not that he didn't see her, but she wouldn't hang out with him anymore. Classes, studying, meals… it didn't matter what it was, she would simply hang out with the raven girls instead and occasionally with Neville. She had even started to arrive earlier to their meetings with Minerva and would excuse herself as soon as she had covered the very essentials; likely making little progress on her Occlumency. By the third Saturday he had decided to arrive half an hour late so she could have some proper time under Minerva's tutelage. Today she had finally realized that his delay was intentional and had thanked him for it, before leaving once again with her gaze down.

That had been the worst part for Harry. She didn't snide him, she didn't antagonize him and she didn't even ignore him. All she ever did was look down and walk away, almost as if it was her who was suffering. She had even kept both of his secrets; despite clearly getting along with the other girls.

So Harry could never find it in himself to hate her. He got angry sometimes; frustrated and even sad over the fact, but he knew he had no reason for hate. He couldn't hate her. He wanted her friendship back instead, as he actually missed her. But she never came back to him; she would only stay close as much as it was strictly necessary. And he never did really understand why it all happened.

All he knew was that the he didn't enjoy life at Hogwarts as much as he used to.

Yes, there were still the raven guys and he never felt uncomfortable hanging out with Oliver and Roger. But it wasn't the same, not even when he and Neville were alone and there was no need for secrets. It was as if that lustre on the daily life at Hogwarts had vanished. His classes were still interesting and his meetings with Tonks and Minerva were not at all boring. But she wasn't there really with him anymore.

He had realized that the WCC training helped him clear his mind. So he had taken to wander off anywhere in the school whenever he felt he had too much free time. Even if walking around was far from being any kind of strenuous exercise for him, staying on the move helped his mind and his troubled heart. It was during one of this strolls that he had ended up back on the south wing third floor before that very door.

He closed his eyes and listened. He could hear the wind blowing across the doorway, but this time he already knew it was actually the Cerberus breathing- "How did they get that beast inside? It's just a regular door and that dog is at least three times too big to fit through" -He muttered to himself- "But that means that as long as it cannot change its size, I could open and look without running any real danger"

He had bothered to learn the _Alohomora_ properly after the last time, so he unlocked the door and gently opened it. This time the beast was soundly asleep directly across the doorway, so he simply chose to sit on the floor and watch.

He realized that once he got over the fear factor, the Cerberus didn't look that scary. It was just a gigantic three headed dog peacefully asleep. It almost looked tame- 'Ok, maybe Hagrid has been rubbing off on me' -He thought shaking his head.

After a couple of minutes of just looking at the Cerberus breathing, he remembered about the so called trial and decided to look around. He searched the room only to find it was decidedly empty except for the dog. But when he turned to look back at it, he finally noticed there was a trap door in the middle of the floor, right under one of the Cerberus paws.- "Huh… so it could really be a trial after all… I wonder what's at the end of it."

Feeling slightly better and starting to get bored, Harry was considering it might be time to get back to the ravens tower when he heard someone clearing his throat behind him. He started at the sound and stood up as he turned around in a single motion. Flitwick had caught him- "Professor, I-" -He stopped talking as soon as he realized Flitwick had his hand raised asking for silence.

Flitwick pulled out his wand and silently closed and locked the door to the trials with a flick of it. He then turned his attention to Harry- "Mr. Potter, I do believe the Headmaster was clear enough at the Opening Feast in regards that this section of the castle was strictly off limits. Am I correct?" -He asked sternly.

"Yes professor" -Despite he was in good terms with Flitwick, he knew was still in trouble.

"And what were you doing in here?"

"I… I got here while roaming the castle and then I just sat and decided to contemplate the Cerberus"

Flitwick narrowed his eyes at him- "So you were not in here in search of the rumored trials?"

"Absolutely not" -He answered- 'At least not this time'

Flitwick slightly relaxed and sighed- "Good. Although I wish some of my lions shared your common sense" -Flitwick paused for a moment deep in thought- "Did you find Fluffy interesting?"

"Fluffy?"

"Yes, Fluffy. That Cerberus is actually one of Hagrid's many pets" -He answered while shaking his head- "Are you interested in magical creatures?"

Harry wasn't really thrilled about them, but he thought this might be his way out of trouble- "I don't know if they would form a part of my career of choice, but I do find most of them intriguing and some even amazing"

"Good" -He said as he gave it another thought- "I certainly cannot let you walk out of this without a proper punishment. But you seem to have been in here simply to observe Fluffy and not chasing any wild rumours I'll let you serve detention with Hagrid tomorrow night. I'm sure he will gladly show you around some of his most… interesting creatures and perhaps even allow you to feed some of them."

Meeting Hagrid's _interesting_ creatures gave him a slightly cold sweat, but it would certainly be more entertaining than most other detentions he could have instead- "Thank you professor, and I promise I'll try not to wander in here ever again"

Flitwick narrowed his eyes at him and snorted- "I assure you Harry that you don't want to meet what awaits to whoever manages to get past Fluffy. Now off you go, and I hope I don't catch down here ever again"

Harry knew he had been busted be he was thankful he would get away with only a warning. He bowed in respect to Flitwick despite he had told him it was only for show before heading back to the ravens' tower.

**********************(Tonks)**********************

06 Dec - Su

BOOM!

"Ok, that shouldn't have happened dear brother"

"I certainly agree. I told you it should have been anticlockwise stirring"

Tonks looked dumbfounded at their results. The Twins had approached her with a new potion. They claimed it could make a suit of armour tap dance. Instead, they had poured it and when they performed the activation spell everything blew up. The armour had miraculously survived, but one of the tapestries was in tatters, a window shattered and a whole section of the hallway was charred.

"Oh yeah? When did you become the brains?"

"Right at the moment I told you to stir it clockwise!"

Tonks was beginning to get confused, as it usually happened no matter how long she spent with the two of them- "Guys, I think we should get out of here before someone comes to check on the blast"

"What's going on over there?! You kids better not have dirtied my floors!" -They heard Filch screaming from around the corner

"Run!" -Both twins exclaimed in unison.

They were turning the opposite side of the hallway when Filch finally arrived to their mess- "Wha- YOU THREE! Get back over here!"

The Twins along with Tonks made the sensible thing and kept running away. They could hear Filch chasing after them.

They had turned into another hallway when they reached a crossroad- "Split up! We go up and you take the hallway to the right."

Tonks grudgingly turned right- 'Filch is so gonna come after me instead of taking the stairs'

Tonks proved to be right, so she was forced to keep running. She rushed down the next flight of stairs that she came across. But instead of losing Filch, she crashed into someone and ended up sprawled on the floor.

"Ah Professor, thank you for catching her" -Said Filch.

Tonks sat on the floor as she rubbed her head, having landed on it. Minerva was dusting off her robes while Filch loomed over her with creepy eyes.

"Did I?" -Said Minerva while turning to look at Tonks. Her eye seemed to twitch slightly over been rammed- "Very well Argus, I'll let you go and attend to whatever happened as I see to Ms. Tonks punishment"

It took a moment for Filch to comprehend and his face to turn into one of dismay- "Professor she and her accomplices wrecked a hallway in the fourth floor. An armour was dented at the very least and a there was a broken window scattered all over the floor"

"Indeed… then you better hurry Argus as we don't want any other accidents" -She said giving him a pointed look that would brook no arguments.

Once he realized he wouldn't be winning this, Filch left cursing through gritted teeth.

Minerva turned back to look at Tonks. Tonks squirmed in her place before she slowly standing up- "Thank you Minnie, you are the best!" -Said Tonks with the brightest smile she could muster. Minerva simply cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow- "Ok, I guess I'm not getting out of this one after all"

"Most certainly not. First of all, I would like to know what you were doing" -Tonks only response was to keep her lips tightly shut- "I see… someone else got away. Fine, I promise I won't hold them accountable so you can put your badgers pride to rest."

Tonks thought about the offer for a moment. She knew that Minerva was someone she could trust. And she had proven to be true to her word ever since she met her. Tonks finally decided to explain how the Twins prank had gone wrong.

Minerva took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose- "But no one got hurt, right?"

"Not at all. We were the only ones on that corridor"

Minerva nodded deep in thought and Tonks was still unsure whether she was getting out of this one- "I'll do as I promised and I won't go after the Weasleys" -Tonks couldn't help but smile in victory. Perhaps a little too soon- "But you are having detention regardless"

"What?! Why?" -Exclaimed Tonks in dismay.

"Because even if you didn't brew the potion or used it, you were part of it. And you did make me promise not to punish the Twins" -Said Minerva with a smirk- "Not to say that you did ran into me"

Tonks drew breath to protest, hesitated and narrowed her eyes instead- "And what would I be doing in my detention?"

"I don't know" -Minerva replied with an easy smile- "But you can accompany Harry and find out. Both of you will be serving detention with Hagrid tonight. He will most likely seize your help for feeding some of the creatures he keeps for class"

Tonks wasn't thrilled over meeting some of Hagrid's creatures, which would most certainly consist of the very dangerous type. But she would be sharing the task with Harry so it couldn't be that bad after all. It was certainly better than writing an essay for her. Or heaven forbid, she could have ended up been Filch's prey. And she certainly didn't want to find out if the stories were true. Tonks sighed and allowed her shoulders to drop limp- "Fine, I guess it's not bad after all. And thanks, Filch kind of creeps me out"

* * *

%%%

It was shortly after dinner and Tonks was arriving late for her detention. She could see Hagrid's hut glowing with its lanterns light under the cover of the night.

'I wonder if Minnie isn't losing her mind… why would she send me to feed creatures in the middle of the night otherwise. Unless she did so I could keep an eye on Harry… everybody knows that Hagrid's idea of dangerous is quite insane after all. I'll try and keep him out of trouble anyway. I'd rather do that than let Hagrid convince him that salamanders aren't really dangerous' -She thought shaking her head.

She finally arrived to Hagrid's hut and she could already hear the both of them talking inside. She knocked on the door. A moment later Hagrid welcomed her inside.

Harry had a look of surprise when he realized it was her- "Tonks? You got detention too? What did you do?" -He finally asked with mirthful grin.

"Yeah, laugh it up all you want but it wasn't really my fault. The Twins screwed up on one of their projects and I ended up taking the fall. That and I knocked Minnie over" -Harry bursted out laughing once she told the specifics of the potion- "Damn it… Hagrid, would you please keep it a secret?"

The half-giant simply laughed as he nodded- "Aye. Don't worry, I don't mind the Twins now that they know better than messing with ma' creatures. They ended up smoking last time they went for some salamanders"

"Hagrid, please tell me you won't make us feed them" -Tonks pleaded.

"Feed? Oh no, I took care o' that before dinner. Dumbledore asked me to check on something inside the forest tonight. So ya two will be helping me track it down"

"What? Flitwick said you would be showing me your pets tonight. And isn't the forest supposed to be forbidden?" -Asked Harry. Tonks already was in a cold sweat imagining where Hagrid might lead them.

"Oh y'ah. I would do that 'round this time. But I gotta check on what's feeding on the unicorns"

A dreadful feeling set on Tonks as she shook her head- "Hagrid you can't seriously be taking us hunting for something vile enough to kill a unicorn!"

Hagrid gave chuckle dismissing it- "Oh no worries there Nym'adora. We won't be hunting for it, just track it down. We find out and we get back. I have to report with the Headmaster before taking care o' it"

Tonks eye twitched with annoyance over the use of her name. But she was way more concerned about their impromptu expedition.

"Ok, I don't mind helping you to track it as long as we don't have to face whatever it is" -Said Harry before she could argue their way out.

"O' course not! We just find out what it is and get back. And there's nothing to worry as we are taking Fang" -Enthusiastically claimed Hagrid, failing entirely to reassure Tonks in any kind of way- "He has a knack to feel danger and run from it" -He added with a booming laugh.

"Now let's go so you two can be back before curfew" -Added Hagrid and left the hut with his crossbow over one shoulder and Fang following right behind.

Tonks smacked Harry on the back of his head on the way out- "You dumbass'! Why did you agree so easily to this? We don't know what could possibly be hunting unicorns but whatever it is, it's certainly evil."

Harry frowned at her as he rubbed his head- "Don't worry, it's just scouting. We get out of there as soon as we know what it is" -Harry said nonchalantly.

Tonks snorted- "You say that only because you've only had the introductory class with Hagrid" -Tonks pulled him by the hem of his robes so that he would look at her in the eye- "Harry, listen to me. You know I like to fool around but this is no joke. I've heard stories that make Hagrid's skrewts sound like cockroaches; nasty things but quite harmless. So if we see something dangerous or whatever the hell is hunting unicorns out there, we stick together but get the hell out of there. Are we clear?"

Harry tried to pull away but Tonks was determined not to let go until acknowledged her words- "Yes Tonks, don't worry and stop making a fuss about it. I get it, we are going into a forest in the middle of the night and you are slightly scared" -Tonks narrowed her eyes menacingly- "But I'll still do as you said, I promise. But I don't believe they keep XXXXX rated creatures in a forest within the school grounds."

She let go of him and shook her head while looking down- "Harry, believe me you'll regret having said that. But as long as you promise to do as I said… I guess I can let you get caught unawares for once. That should teach you"

Harry snorted and bumped her shoulder playfully- "See? No need to be afraid of the dark."

"Oy! Let's go the two o' ya" -Hagrid called for them from outside. Tonks followed Harry out the hut- "Now listen the two of ya. I'll take the lead and ya two will follow right behind. Harry, ya take Fang's leash. Beware of him 'cause he has a nasty pull when scared" -Both of them were nodding in acknowledgement- "Once I believe we are close, ya stay slightly behind while I take a peak. Ya got it?"

"Yes Hagrid" -Said the two of them in unison.

"Good. T'is way"

Hagrid lead them into the forest. Unlike she had been expecting, there were no haunted trees or moving shadows. Instead the forest felt alive under the moonlight. Branches didn't claw to her hair, but their leaves from the evergreens rustled in the midnight breeze. There were no glowing eyes staring their every move from within the shadows. And there were no screeching sounds coming from the depths of the forest. Instead the forest was alive with night critters and their predators, but not ones dangerous to them. At one moment Hedwig had swooped by and perched on Harry's shoulder looking for a few scratches, before taking off into the darkness looking for her breakfast.

"Huh… I thought it would have been scarier to be within the forest after sundown" -commented Tonks.

"Me too" -said Harry.

"There's nothing to worry about while being this close to the castle. This forest stretches for miles, far beyond the mountains" -Hagrid said with mirth in his voice- "The colony of Centaurs steer most of the dangerous creatures away from the castle borders. In exchange, the school's headmaster is compelled to provide assistance whenever it's required. Although they rarely ever ask for anything, as they prefer to keep much to themselves."

"So… there's no real danger close to the school?" -asked Harry

"I wouldn't say any danger at all" -Hagrid laughed- "Centaurs ain't as perfect as they like to believe and they cannot keep everything from passing through. Every once in a while I do get something more interesting to deal with and send back on its way"

Tonks shuddered to Hagrid's _interesting_ designation- "I'm almost afraid to ask but… what kind of interesting?"

"Oh nothing to worry about as Nundus don't like the weather and dragons are much too regulated for this part of the island" -said Hagrid- "Usually it's one of Araggog's children who got lost. But I've come to face with a few Letifolds and Manticores. There was this one time I found a funny Sphinx strolling towards the castle; it had some of the funniest questions I've ever heard"

"A bloody Sphinx? Uhh… Hagrid, how often do you encounter these stray creatures?"

"Usually one shows up every fortnight or so, but there hasn't been a single one since the start of this term and I cannot tell why"

"Maybe whatever feeds on the unicorns is scaring them away" -said Harry in a voice filled with dread.

"Aye… maybe they know better than to mess with whatever it is"

"And yet here we are hunting for it…" -muttered Tonks. The forest didn't look so friendly after that conversation.

Harry and Tonks spent the next hour small talking in an attempt to ease their nerves. That was until Hagrid stopped to crouch, picking up something from the ground. They went around taking a look to what he had found. Pooling on the ground seemed to be water reflecting the silver moonlight. But upon closer inspection she realized the silvery colour was of its own accord and it was actually too thick to be anything like water. Hagrid scooped some of it with his fingers before allowing it to slip back to the ground.

"What is that?" -asked Harry

"That's wha we been looking for. It's unicorn's fresh blood, so one must be wounded and close by. Stay down and follow me quietly"

"Hagrid, you said we wouldn't get close to whatever it is" -Tonks hissed.

"Aye… ya may stay here if ya like, I won't go far. Whistle if anything interesting comes by" -He said too cheerfully for her tastes. Soon enough they lost sight of him in between the trees up ahead.

"He seems to be expecting something friendly to show up" -commented Harry

Tonks sighed in frustration- "Yes, he does. But I can't say I share his optimism"

Harry hummed in agreement- "Wouldn't it have been safer to stick with him?"

Tonks turned to look at Harry in disbelief- "He's hunting for whatever is feeding on unicorns. I don't care if he says it's only a recon, I don't wanna come across whatever it is" -She paused for a moment before adding- "Besides he wouldn't be going too far away from us and he said Fang has a good nose for danger"

No sooner had she said that they heard some branches being broken to their left, followed by a thump of something falling to the ground.

"Bugger me" -cursed Tonks

"Don't you worry; Fang is still calm so it shouldn't be anything dangerous. Let's check it out" -said Harry with a teasing smile as he lead to the dog to the source.

Tonks reluctantly followed right behind, unwilling to remain alone even if she dreaded the idea of checking what was it. Harry had just cleared underbrush up ahead when he halted.

"Oh fuck me" -He cursed.

Tonks' regret over following him was escalating by the second- "What is it? ... Oh shit!" -She said upon pushing besides him.

There on a clearing up ahead of them laid a unicorn on the ground. It was severely wounded on one of its flanks and its breathing was ragged.

Tonks grabbed one of Harry's arms with crushing force- "Harry we need to get out of here. It must be the one Hagrid was tracking and whatever has attacked it can't be far behind"

"What? Tonks we can't do that! It's a unicorn so we gotta help it. We need to either heal its wound or mercy-kill it!"

"What?! Are you fucking nuts?! You would get cursed for killing a unicorn, so don't even think about it!" -She all but shouted into his ear- "Harry let's go before we get in trouble"

"Alright! No killing it… or you'll end up making me deaf. But we still need to help it!" -Argued Harry- "Look, Hagrid must be on his way back or about to catch up with the unicorn so he won't be long. Besides Fang is still calm so according to Hagrid that means there is no danger nearby"

To Tonks deepest regret, Harry decided now was the perfect time to pull his newly learned puppy eyes. Seeing the logic and compassion behind Harry's words- "Fine! But we still don't know how or what to do to help it"

"Didn't you learn any spell with Poppy to close wounds?"

"Yes but those are meant for people Harry, we don't know how it could react to the unicorn's magic"

"I know, I know" -Harry seemed to pause and think about it for a moment- "But unless you want to start looking for any kind of medicinal herbs lying around, we don't have much of a choice. We should try the spell you know at the very least, what's the worst that could happen?"

Tonks was gobsmacked staring at Harry with unbelieving eyes- "You truly want to get us in some kind of trouble, don't you?"

"What? No! Why would you say that?" -Harry exclaimed appalled

"Because that was the ultimate attempt to jinx this situation without casting a bloody spell! Argh!" -Tonks sighed in exasperation- "Okay, I'll give it a try. But stop asking for something bad to happen and stay alert! I have to focus on this if we want any chance of it working" -Harry was about to respond when Tonks raised a menacing finger- "Shush! Or you'll definitely jinx us. Now look around and see if anything approaches"

Harry nodded in acknowledgement with mild irritation before he began scrutinizing their surroundings.

In the meantime, Tonks carefully and steadily approached the wounded creature. She knew that despite them being majestic creatures, they could also be frightening whenever they felt threatened or insulted. Doing her best to look friendly towards the creature, she was finally able to reach it before caressing its back in an attempt to show she was no threat to the unicorn and she was actually there to help. After staring at her with intent for a few moments, the unicorn finally accepted that it had little choice and with a snort it allowed its head to fall back to the ground to save its strengths.

"There, see? I'm here only to help" -Tonks murmured smiling to herself- "Now let's see if I can actually help you in any way"

Tonks was amidst overpowering the only healing charm she knew want Fang started to growl- "Harry, what's happening? I'm almost done with this"

"Argh!"

Upon hearing him in pain, she urged her magic to act faster before turning towards Harry. He was kneeling on the ground while holding his forehead with both of his hands. He seemed to be under extreme pain for reasons she couldn't understand.

"Harry! What's wrong?!" -She kneeled beside him and tried to pry his hands open. What she found shocked her to her core. His lightning scar seemed to have forced itself to surface and it was currently oozing some sort of black blood- "Harry, your… scar. What's happening?"

Harry looked up at her with pain written all over his face as the black blood trickled over the corner of his left eye. His whole body twitched as he did his best to fight off whatever was affecting him- "I-I don't know. Th- This has never happened before"

Fang was no longer growling as he had started barking a few moments ago. Tonks was already under a lot of stress, so it was quickly getting on her nerves- "Fang! Quiet!" -It took a moment for Tonks to realize that it had actually worked. Fang had ceased his barking despite she hadn't held much hope over it.

Turning back her concentration towards Harry, she realized that his face was no longer showing pain. His body still trembled with whatever troubled him, but his was a mix of shock and fear. It was only then that she realized that the only reason Fang was no longer being an annoyance was because he had fled as Hagrid predicted.

Tonks turned towards the direction of the unicorn, where Harry was seemingly looking at. Slowly descending from amongst the tree-tops was a hooded figure. It was effortlessly floating down with a trail of black smoke following right behind of it. It was clearly a humanoid figure despite being obscured by its dark robes, which seemed to meld into the darkness of the forest.

Tonks struggled to get on her feet as she fought against her crippling fear and hauling Harry to his feet. Whatever was hindering him didn't seem ready to let go.

Harry stood on shaky legs as he leaned on Tonks and pulled out his wand. He tried to cast a minor stunner but his aim proved to be off. His hands were shaking so badly that his wand movements were wrong enough to provoke the trunk of a tree he actually hit to turn into stone.

"Harry, not now. We need to escape" -Said Tonks quietly, unsure of where the creature's attention really was.

For a moment she feared Harry wouldn't budge, but thankfully he started to slowly walk away still holding tight to her for support. They were about to get through the undergrowth when the creature waved an arm in their direction. Tonks closed her eyes bracing herself for the worst but nothing seemed to happen. They took another step back before she realized what the creature had done. It had used magic in order to transfigure the underbrush behind them into razor wire, cutting off their retreat. Having them cornered, the creature descended to ground level without really walking. It just kept approaching them as it floated over its dark smoke. Despite its attention been definitely on them, Tonks had the weird sensation that it was actually focusing on Harry and completely disregarding her.

Harry tried to fire another spell, but he missed again and this time it got lost in the forest. Tonks tried to cast one of her own, but the creature effortlessly deflected it away. The robed figure raised an arm, slowly reaching for Harry's face.

Tonks was stunned in fear. It was clear for her that they were no match towards the creature. And for some unforeseeable reason its attention was fixed on them. Harry didn't seem to be faring any better, as she had her doubts whether he was trembling out of fear or whatever had been paining him. A clop of hoofs made her wonder why the creature held no more interest in the unicorn it had been hunting. That was before chaos broke loose.

The unicorn had managed to regain some its strength after being healed. But unlike Tonks had first thought of, it didn't flee. Instead of that, the unicorn decided to ram his horn into the back of the unsuspecting hooded figure. Unluckily for all of them, the creature had noticed the assault on the last moment and attempted to move away; but not being fast enough to escape unharmed. The unicorn had managed to at the very least pierce the creature's shoulder all the way through and shred the hole open.

The robed figure wailed in pain. Tonks thought for a moment she could recognize a human voice within the scream. Nonetheless it was clear that whatever it was, it wasn't human as there seemed to be two different set of screams coming from the same figure. Its shoulder had been torn open. The unicorn had apparently pierced through the joint between the humerus and scapula, severing the connection between the two of them. Bone peeked from both sides of the wound and all that was holding it together was the skin and muscle of the armpit. Dark blood spluttered from the wound, it leaked from its hanging arm as well as it squirted from the main body in an apparent rhythm with its pulsing heart.

The unicorn took a stance in between them and the creature, stomping the ground with one of its forelegs as it snorted in defiance. Its horn no longer shone in its pure bone white colour, as it was now smeared in the creatures black blood. The unicorn held its stance for a few moments, doing its best to appear as menacing as it could towards the robed figure. Slowly it paced backwards until it had its flank towards them, still shielding them from the creature as well as blocking their sight from it. After a few moments of nothing really happening, the unicorn bumped one of its hind legs against Tonks' shoulder as if it were trying to urge her to do something. Tonks didn't get the meaning of the unicorn's prodding, but it was quickly followed by the urging from Harry.

"Let's go Tonks" -He grumbled still in pain.

"Yeah, but how? That things still got us pinned down" -She hissed back.

"Goddamn it woman, hop on the unicorn" -Harry nudged her forward- "It wants to take us away from here"

Tonks was flabbergasted. It was widely known that attempting to ride a unicorn could very much be the last thing you tried in your life. But before she could object to it, Harry was already leaning against it offering a hand in help towards her. The unicorn didn't even flinch to his touch and they were in dire need of a way out. She ultimately decided that if they were going to die she would rather go at the hands of a unicorn rather than whatever that creepy creature would do to them. Noticing the Harry was still rather weak to make the jump and mount the unicorn, she motioned Harry- "Ok, but you mount first so I can help you up. Whatever has gotten to you, still has you weak"

Harry seemed to be on the verge of refuting her words, whether it was because of a male thing or stubbornness she couldn't know. But he held his tongue and acknowledged the truth of her words by offering a nod. Once he was already securely mounted, he hauled her up so she could sit behind him.

Finally able to see the hooded creature again, she noticed that the shoulder from its robe had fixed itself. Luckily for them, the wound underneath seemed to be still in place as there was black blood dripping and pooling under its arm. The shrouded being seemed to be looking at them with intent; its body at the ready for whatever may come next, whether it would have to defend itself from the unicorn or be the attacker itself.

But before Tonks could brace herself for anything, the unicorn was off in a gallop. She had barely been able to sit on its bare back when it did. Doing her best to avoid falling to the ground and possibly be left behind, she clutched as hard as she could to Harry from behind. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her body against his. She was thankful that Harry had managed to hold on to the unicorn's mane in time. Without a saddle or anything else to hold on to than the grips of their thighs, she was convinced they would have fallen to the ground.

They galloped through the forest for a while, completely clueless on where they might be heading to.

"Harry!" -called Tonks

"What?" -He answered

"Where are we heading?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Maybe because you are up front dumbass" -She grumbled

"Oh… well I still have no fucking idea"

"Great!" -Tonks protested- "Do you think we should-?"

But before she could finish her line of thought, they cleared the last remnants of the forest. It took a moment for Tonks to realize they were at the back of Hagrid's hut.

"Huh… do you think the unicorn is friends with Hagrid?" -wondered Harry.

"I don't know, but we should get down and give it some space" -replied Tonks as she dismounted the unicorn with haste.

Once dismounted she scurried away from it; fearful from a first-hand experience of a unicorn's pride. She was getting restless over Harry's inability to comprehend that they weren't completely clear of all danger yet. She actually wanted to tackle him once she saw him dismount before he began petting the animal. It had been a long day for her nerves after all.

"Harry!" -She hissed- "Get back before it takes offense! Unicorns are extremely proud creatures and they tend to maul people who dare get too close"

Harry looked at her over his shoulder. If she had to guess, he was thinking she was acting crazy- "That might be true, but he is different. We saved each other after all" -He casually explained- "Come here, I can assure you he won't harm us"

"What?! Are you fucking nuts?" -She shouted, which seemed to startle the unicorn. Unwilling to anger it, she lowered her voice to a hiss- "Harry, get away from it this instant. I've had enough of dangerous situations for a month and I don't want to add escaping an angry unicorn to that list"

Harry sighed as he stopped petting the animal. He walked her way as he looked down shaking his head. He caught her completely unaware when he grabbed her arm and dragged her back towards the unicorn.

"Harry! No! Wait!" -Tonks struggled against his grip. The unicorn finally turned their way and she closed her eyes- 'This is it. We escaped every danger tonight just to end up impaled by a unicorn'

She braced herself for the worst. But instead of getting pierced by its horn or the pain of its hooves as it trampled them over, she only felt soft warm fur under her palm. Tonks pried one eye open still in the lookout for danger. Instead she found Harry's hand holding hers as the unicorn pressed its snout against it.

Her fear slowly ebbed away as she came to terms with the situation. Instead of the angry beast she had expected from all the stories she had heard, she found a majestic animal in front of her.

"He does seem grateful towards you. You did save him after all" -commented Harry as he slowly moved to one side to continue rubbing its flank.

"Yeah… I guess I did" -murmured Tonks in amazement- "But it was only thanks to you Harry. I'm sure I would have turned tails if it hadn't been for your refusal to leave"

Harry simply hummed in acknowledgement. Both of them continued to pet and rub the unicorn in silence, marveling at the sense of raw power mixed with a feeling of pure light that seemed to come from the unicorn.

After a while, Tonks felt emboldened by their closeness with the creature- "I wonder if he would let us ride him again. Only that this time it would be for fun and not for running for our lives"

Harry simply smiled and nodded at her to go on ahead, as he took a few steps back. She placed one hand on its back, trying to find a handhold in its back bone. With the other she took hold of its mane, hauling herself up. She was lying flat on its back when she saw Harry's smile turn into a devilish grin as she realized of her mistake.

In just a few seconds, the unicorn deemed its debt paid and its pride tainted. It reared up causing Tonks to be catapulted a few meters back. She landed with a loud thump as the animal proceeded to gallop back into the forest.

Tonks rolled into her back as Harry laughed as he approached her. He offered her a hand to help her up as he said with a grin- "Didn't they teach you about a unicorn's pride?"

She slapped his hand away and stayed lying on her back staring daggers at him- "You bloody arse, you were expecting that to happen!"

"Well yeah…" -He casually said as he laid flat on his back on the ground beside her- "I mean, he did owe us for saving his life, but he had also repaid us by taking us away from that thing and out of the forest. His good graces were bound to meet an end at some point"

"Bastard, you could have warned me" -muttered Tonks as she looked up to the stars. She couldn't believe how calmed she felt despite what they had just survived.

"Thanks by the way" -Said Harry out of the blue, breaking the silence. She turned his way to find him staring at the stars- "You didn't only save the unicorn back there, but you saved me as well"

"Yeah… what was happening to you back there? You were twisting in pain before that thing even showed up"

Harry frowned deep in thought- "I don't really know as it's never really happened before. But my scar was burning and it seemed to get worst as the creature approached. Didn't you feel anything of the sorts?"

"No, no pain at all… all I could feel was fear and the dark aura of power it emanated. I wonder if that was one of those wretched dementors. Although they are supposedly constricted to Azkaban so I don't know what one of those could be doing in the area"

Harry hummed as he thought about it- "I don't know what dementors might be, but maybe it was one gone rogue?"

The idea of a dementor going rogue deeply disturbed Tonks, but she considered it to be a much better option than that creature being an unknown. Because whatever it was, its aura was dark enough to chill her bones- "I'm not really sure if we should wish for that thing to be a rogue dementor or something else"

After that they remained silently lying on the ground gazing the stars. They were quietly enjoying the night when Tonks noticed something amiss- "Harry, don't you find this a little bit weird?"

Harry snorted before asking- "Which part?"

"That we almost died and yet we are lying here on the grass without any care in the world. My mind finds it unsettling yet I can't help to feel at ease"

Harry turned his head to look at her with a smile- "I think it's thanks to the unicorn" -Tonks only stared at him funnily and raised an eyebrow prompting him to elaborate- "You see… as soon as the unicorn stood between the creature and us, my scar ceased to burn. So my guess is that the natural magic from the unicorn was able to repel or at the very least shield us from the creature. If that's so, I'd say that it also helped us to relax and feel at ease; we're probably still under its influence"

Tonks turned back to gaze the stars as she thought about it- "It's the first time I hear about anything like that, but I guess it does make sense" -She turned back to look at him and punched his shoulder playfully- "I guess there actually is a reason for you to have been sorted with the ravens after all. I had been wondering whether the hat had made a mistake after seeing how lazy you can be sometimes"

Harry chuckled- "Yeah, I guess you could have your doubts about me… especially when compared to Hermione" -He trailed off with as a sad smile as he turned back to look at the stars.

Tonks bit her lip as she stared at Harry gazing at the stars beside her, his arms folded under the back of his head. It had been only natural for her to become good friends with the two of them. But now it pained her to be caught in the middle of it.

Tonks had been slightly shocked when she first learned about their kiss, but she had to admit that the feeling of surprise hadn't entirely been of the good kind. She had certainly understood Hermione's doubts and troubles when the girl had confided in her. But she had also believed she would come to terms with it within the week and everything would be fine. But it has been well over a month right now and the girl seemed to still be avoiding Harry. And Harry… she certainly didn't like seeing him in pain.

'Next weekend is the winter break. I wonder if he would like to come home with me. I'm certain that meeting mum would cheer him up or be enough of a distraction at the very least. And there are lots of other things that we could do to cheer him up' -She thought as a slight pink blush rose to her cheeks- 'Should I owl home before actually inviting him? I'm sure mum wouldn't mind'

But before Tonks was able to make up her mind, they heard barks coming from the forest. A moment later, Fang emerged from within the trees and tackled Harry over who had been sitting. Pining Harry to the ground, Fang proceeded to show his affection and worry by licking his face and completely washing Harry in slobber. Harry was cursing and doing his best trying to fend off the hound as Tonks rolled in laughter beside them. It was only a few moments later that Hagrid finally came out of the woods.

"Oi! What do ya' think ya'r doin?!" -Hagrid scream, shocking both of them by his sudden outburst of anger- "I've been worried sick tryin to find ya'r asses and I come to find ya back here by the hut! Tonks! Ya were arguing 'bout the dangers of the forest but ya go back on ya'r own?! What kind of games are ya two playing? I feared the worst when Fang came running for me"

Both teens were stunned. None of them would have ever expected to face an angry Hagrid. Moreover, it was a terrifying sight to have an angry half-giant looming over you. Harry was the first one to overcome his shock- "Hagrid, we didn't mean to. We actually found the wounded unicorn and as Tonks was healing it, the creature showed up" -At that moment, Hagrid's face did a complete 180 turn going from anger to a mixture of dismay and terror- "We don't know what it was, but it had us completely cornered. We only managed to escape thanks to the unicorn that managed to recover enough to ram the thing before taking us out of the forest"

Hagrid was completely at a loss for words so Tonks decided to add her own two knuts- "It looked like a dementor but I can't be sure as I've never faced one before. And now that I think about it, it was able to perform some magic and deflect one of my spells"

The slightest mention of a dementor on the loose seemed to drain all the remaining blood from Hagrid's face, leaving him completely pale. He nodded a few times without uttering a word before he was able to find his voice- "Aye, I'm sorry 'bout all that screaming. We need to inform the Headmaster what the two of ya found. Now follow me, t'is better not wait"

Tonks and Harry were forced to run after Hagrid as his longs strides were too fast for them to keep his pace. Hagrid lead them through the castle into the Headmaster's Office, where they thankfully found Dumbledore alone with his phoenix. Hagrid gave his quick report before prompting both of them to give their tale of the events. After carefully listening to both of them, Dumbledore asked if they could let him have a copy of their memories. Once they were taught the proper spell, Tonks and Harry placed a copy of their memories in a basin called pensieve.

Tonks was starting to get itchy for being there without really being told anything about the whole situation when Dumbledore returned from his dive into the second memory.

The Headmaster hummed deep in thought before speaking- "This is most interesting. Harry my child, are you certain that this has been the first time you ever experienced such a pain?"

"Yes professor"

"And you Miss Tonks didn't feel any amount of pain, am I right?"

Tonks nodded before she added- "I only felt this oppressing dark aura"

"I see" -Said Dumbledore before he lapsed into his thoughts as he absentmindedly stroked his beard.

"Umm, professor?" -asked Tonks. Upon gaining the headmaster's attention she asked- "Do you think it could have possibly been a dementor?"

"No, it was not. It was most certainly a dark being, but from both of your memories alone I can't say exactly which kind. But I do believe it's not one native to our forest" -He said with twinkling eyes.

"And what about the pain in my scar? Can you imagine anything capable of such a thing?" -Inquired Harry- "I felt quite… helpless like that. The pain was enough to prevent me from doing anything"

"I can't tell for certain" -Answered Dumbledore with his eyes twinkling madly- "But I will research into the matter and provide you with any help given that I find any answers" -He said with a grandfatherly smile.

"Now I do believe it's time the two of you head to your respective quarters as you have classes in the morrow. I would ask you not to spread the tonight's events as there is no reason to frighten the students. This creature won't pose threat to anyone as it seems to dwell and hunt deep within the forest, which is already off limits as it is. Suffice to say that it would be unwise for the two of you to chase after it, am I right?" -Dumbledore said in a friendly voice despite piercing the two of them with eyes that said he would brook no arguments.

Harry and Tonks nodded in acknowledgement before retiring for the night. Harry escorted her to her common room despite being long past curfew. Luckily for them, they didn't come across any night patrol. After bidding her goodnight, she entered the badger's common room and headed for her dorm when she halted in her tracks.

"Fuck, I forgot to ask him about Christmas. Oh well, I guess I'll owl mum first in that case" -She mumbled to herself.

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10 Dec - Th

Hermione was in trouble. She had at hand a task to perform that she wasn't thrilled about; she would very much avoid it if possible. The problem was that she had been ordered to do so; no less than by her parents. People could comfortably claim that she didn't enjoy going against the orders from people she admired and respected, usually figures of high authority. But suffice to say that she abhorred the very idea of going against her parents' wishes; they had raised her after all and she owed everything she was to them.

Lost in her thoughts, the source of her conundrum walked past her. She was forced to run half of the way back from the flying pitch in order to catch up.

"Harry, wait! Can I talk to you for a moment?" -She called for him.

Harry turned with surprise written all over his face. She had avoided him for over a month and a half, so she couldn't really blame him- "Yeah, sure. What's up?"

She waited for the rest of their classmates to walk past them. Only once she was certain that they were out of earshot did she talk- "I- umm… my…" -Hermione was having trouble how to phrase it, she was clearly out of her comfort zone right in that moment- "What are you doing for the winter break?"

Harry frowned and leaned his head over to one side, apparently confused by her question- "I've heard we are allowed to stay within the castle, so that's what I am planning to do" -He paused for a moment before adding in a lower tone- "I'd rather not return to the Dursleys. And I'm quite certain they would rather prefer it that way"

She had expected as much. She might have yet to discover the full spectrum of his past, but she knew enough to assume he would rather not ever go back to that place- "Good. I mean- no-" -She sighed in frustration, took a deep breath and explained- "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant"

Harry chuckled, her mock up seemed to lighten his mood- "It's fine, don't worry. I actually considered it great news when I found out I could stay"

"Yeah… about that. I sort of told my parents about the troll and the broom incident when they happened, so they would like you to come with me for the holidays. We have a guest room where you could stay, so it really wouldn't be a problem"

She bit her lip as she waited for his answer. He clearly hadn't expected such a thing, so he was at a loss for words and she couldn't quite figure out his expression. Hermione herself was uncertain whether she truly wished for him to come or not.

"I- umm… Hermione are you sure about this? I mean… we haven't really talked for a while. And it wasn't because of my choice" -He said in a low tone

Hermione closed her eyes as she let out a deep breath- "Yes, I'd like you to come. I'm still not quite sure about the thing I told you about but… you did save my life twice so I'd like to thank you for it as well as my parents do. Besides…" -she trailed off and Harry cocked his head expectantly- "I kind of miss the two of us being friends. It's fun to hang out with other girls but it's not quite the same"

Harry looked at her in deep contemplation for a minute or two, internally considering her words and probably if she truly meant them. Hermione was starting to get nervous when he finally broke into a broad goofy smile- "Okay, I'd love to go then. But I'll need to check with Minnie if I actually can"

Hermione couldn't help but to offer a small smile herself- "Great. Then I'll go right now and let my parents know as I'm sure we can get Minnie to come round. We'll have to barter with some extra tests on your ability if push comes to shove"

"Argh, why does she even need to run so many tests? She has already had Tonks for two years before me" -Harry complained despite his smile never left.

Hermione stifled a giggle before saying- "Alright, I'll meet you back at the common room then. I'm going to owl my parents and we can ambush Minnie this next Saturday"

Without further ado, she turned and left towards the owlery. She was still uncertain in regards of her feelings for Harry. But she missed his friendship at the very least; and this time apart hadn't helped in the slightest to clear her mind. Having reduced her options to cut all ties or deal with it as the problems surfaced, she had finally made her choice.

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 **.%%%**

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 **A/N 01: Damn, this chapter took me way too long to write. I had my doubts about how to roll with it and where it would go next, so it took me about 4 weeks to write. But now I can say that I'm finally satisfied with it (or at least as much as I'll ever be).**

 **A/N 02: I'm gonna make a simple request to everyone who does bother to review and criticize any of my chapters: do say why you didn't like it or how would you improve it or what would you have wanted to see included. It has no meaning for me or whatsoever if you simply say "I didn't like this"; as a matter of fact, that makes me want to troll with you but then it's your ass that gets offended. If you don't back up your opinion, I can only assume that you are a whiny little bitch.**

 **A/N 03: Sorry I didn't post this last week as I usually do, but I wanted to work a little bit on ch11 to make sure I'd follow through with the last scene.**


	11. 011 Winter Break

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its universe belong to JK Rowling or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just fool around with its universe and characters.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Angela and its universe (Inheritance Cycle) belong to Christopher Paolini or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Lorcan, Rowan and its universe (Throne of Glass series) belong to Sarah J. Maas or whichever company really has its rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**

 **A/N FAQ: Regarding the whole Tonks/Harry/Hermione fiasco… for one thing, I'm not planning on making this fic a fairy tale or at least no one with its fair share of bumps on the road. Another little detail, is that Harry won't have a stable relationship until late in this fic, fifth year kind of late. Why? Honestly… Because I wouldn't want to write as many fics as ships I'd like to try.**

 **A/N: Another** _ **quick**_ **note… at all times I try to keep a stable POV throughout the scenes, where we know that character's thoughts and feeling but we can only presume on those of others from the things perceived. It's sort of an obvious thing but some seem to forget, as everyone assumed that what Hermione glimpsed from Harry on ch10 was the absolute truth and I didn't intend it that way. I want to make this clear because there are a lot of POV switching in this chapter, albeit clearly stated or hinted at the beginning of every scene.**

 _ **I wanna thank my awesome brother for acting as my Alpha and my**_ **Batata** _**for proofreading part of my writing.**_

 **And I also want to thank every reader who takes that little extra time to review my fic. I really appreciate the feedback you provide.**

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 ** **.%%%****

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 **The wandering path of a Battlemage**

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 **CHAPTER 011**

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19 Dec - Sa

It was Saturday afternoon when the Hogwarts Express finally arrived at King's Cross Station. Hermione was excited to finally reunite with her parents after the whole first term. She couldn't hold back her smile or prevent herself from bouncing in place as she waited in line to leave the train. However, not even her excitement was able to completely overshadow her nerves of finally bringing a friend home. Her hands trembled slightly, and she knew herself well enough to acknowledge that it was one of her many signs of anxiety. It would be her very first time after all, because only books had been her companions before Hogwarts.

Once she was finally able to descend from the carriage, she moved aside from the line and waited for her new companion, her first friend Harry.

There were only a couple of students before Harry, when he finally emerged. She looked at him and had to fight off her giggles. It was clear that regardless of how anxious she felt, he was feeling thrice worse. It was clear as day that he was damp in sweat despite they had enjoyed a quiet ride if a bit cold. Once he got off, he came to her side and looked at her expectantly, ready to trail after her.

She noticed that his anxiety had reached to a level where his muscles were seemingly tensing and relaxing in succession, without any real reason or pattern. It looked as if he was well past having cramps and his arms and neck were outright having a seizure of their own.

Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder trying to soothe his nerves. Instead, all she managed was for him to twitch in place- "Harry you need to relax, it's going to be fine. You are already soaked in sweat so it couldn't possibly get worse than that" -She tried to joke to help him relax, which didn't seem to work at all.

"Wha- What are you talking about Hermione? I'm perfectly fine" -He replied with an overly strained smile.

Hermione could only snort at that, but before she could say anything else Tonks slapped his shoulder as she arrived from behind. Hermione could almost picture his somersault as that of an animated cartoon, where a cat would end up latched to the ceiling.

"Oh yeah, I can see that you are perfectly relaxed" -Said Tonks in amusement.

Harry did his best to fume at her, but his sweating nerves definitely ruined that impression- "I said I'm fine Tonks! For real" -both girls only deemed to raise an eyebrow to his blatant lie. It took only a moment for him to deflate under both of her gazes- "Okay, I might be a little bit nervous" -Hermione coughed disbelievingly as Harry groaned in response- "Fine, I'm a complete nervous wreck! But… you two can't understand what this could actually mean to me" -He said low enough that Hermione had to strain her ears in order to listen to him amongst the ruckus of the station.

Tonks rubbed his shoulder trying to offer some comfort- "Hey… it's going to be fine. And you could always crash at my place if needed, as my Christmas invitation still stands" -She said with a soft smile.

Hermione couldn't help herself but to feel smug over winning the unexpected race. The three of them were shocked by Tonks invitation because Harry had already accepted Hermione's proposal. In light of that, they agreed to visit each other during the holidays. Despite of that, Hermione did huff unintentionally before speaking in a soothing voice- "But even so you don't need to worry about this Harry. My parents have already agreed for you to stay and I'm sure we'll all get along splendidly"

Tonks laughed quietly as she shook her head. Hermione could only assume that she took notice of her unintended territorial mannerism. Suddenly shaking everything off, Tonks stood a little straighter as she said- "Alright you two. I'm gonna head off and try to find my parents as I trust everything will be alright with the two of you. We'll sort out the details by owl!" -Having said that, they bid each other goodbye before she could get lost into the crowd.

Hermione turned back to look at him- "Alright Harry, quit fretting about it and let's go find my parents"

She walked away a few feet before realizing that he was so nervous that he wasn't actually moving, forcing her to double back and drag him by the arm over the length of a couple of carriages before he even started walking on his own. They made it back through the hidden entrance to the muggle side of the station and walked towards the King's Cross main hall.

Hermione was able to spot her parents right outside the platforms. Momentarily forgetting about her friend, she rushed off towards them crashing against her mother's embrace. She felt his father hugging them from the side, and she reached with an arm to haul him in as well.

"I missed the two of you" -She mumbled into their embrace, completely unable to hold back tears from pooling in the corner of her eyes.

"We missed you too my dear" -Her mother answered for both of them.

She squeezed them one more time before taking a small step back, unable to step away any further as her parents refused to let go of her shoulders. She looked at the two of them with a fond smile, enjoying the comfort of their presence. The three of them remained that way for a moment until her brain was finally able to reset itself and catch up with the present, when she turned around with startled eyes frantically looking for Harry.

Panic began to set all over herself as she looked the way she had arrived completely unable to find any speck of Harry's messy hair or his mismatched eyes. She pushed away a hand poking her shoulder- "Not now mum, I think I lost Harry. He could be anywhere by now having an anxiety attack" -She said over her shoulder without actually turning to look back.

"It's not me darling. And I certainly believe he is the young man you are looking for" -Said her mother in a giggle.

She spun around becoming a motion blur for a moment before coming face to face with Harry, sighing in relief. He had apparently approached them silently and stood at their side not wanting to intrude in their family reunion. She was glad that his nerves had finally settled, but she was slightly troubled over the smile he seemed to force upon his face as it wasn't nearly enough to hide the sadness underneath.

Hermione offered him a reassuring smile before pulling him closer by the shoulder in order to offer introductions- "Harry, these are my parents; Dante and Ember Granger. Mum, dad; this is Harry Potter, the friend I've writing you about"

"Please, call me Emma" -Her mother introduced herself shaking his hand.

"Everyone simply calls me Harry" -He said back to his nervous self, rubbing the back of his head with one hand and shaking her mother's with the other.

"Harry" -Said her father in steely determination to appear as much of as stern father as he could, offering what appeared to be an overly firm handshake. He failed miserably to do so after receiving and elbow to his ribs from her mother.

"You may call him Dan, nobody really uses Dante" -Emma said trying to ease the boy's nerves.

"Mr. Granger would be suitable" -Said Dan, refusing to relent the daughter-protective-father persona. This time, Emma merely had to give him a stern look to change his mind- "But don't you worry, Dan is just fine" -He said finally letting go of their handshake.

"Nice to finally meet you" -Said Harry trying to shake his nerves.

"Great" -Exclaimed Emma cheerfully- "Now that introductions have been settled, let's go find your parents Harry so we can make the final arrangements for our Christmas dinner together"

And just like that, Hermione's body went still in utter shock.

She turned from her parents to look at Harry. He was standing surprisingly still as well. But she knew that deep inside he was crumbling down, as one of the things he had feared came crashing down to become their reality.

"Princess?" -Dan tentatively asked- "Is everything alright?"

Hermione was momentarily torn inside. She didn't know whether she should try to help Harry coming out of his shock or set things right with her parents.

**********************(Emma)************************

Emma had turned around and absentmindedly took off looking for the young lad's parents. It was a little game of her own that she had always enjoyed; something akin to spot the seven differences. Except that her game consisted in analyzing someone's features and finding their relatives and other possible tidbits of background information. She had decided to forego analyzing Harry himself for later, as she would have limited time before he would be able to find his parents himself. Having a ticking clock added an extra thrill to her little game. Some would question why would she find such a thing entertaining, but it was her own way of keeping her anthropological eye sharp. After all, there was only so much she could do with her Anthropology master when she was confined to her dental practice for most of the day. Regardless of the lack of adventure, she had to admit that having a major focus on facial features due to her dentistry had proved to be an added bonus for her anthropological inquiries on more than a few situations.

But Emma halted in her tracks upon listening to the worried tone in her husband's voice. She turned around and took stock of what was certainly an unexpected situation. Her daughter was frantically trying to explain something to her husband, spilling so many words per minute that she could be an infomercial star.

Turning her attention to her friend, she found the boy to be in a seemingly catatonic shock. She found his face to be scarred despite she could have sworn that his skin had been unblemished the first time around, especially that weird lighting scar on his forehead. But even if that one seemed a bit unnatural, it was impossible for Emma's keen eye to miss on the rest. There were now small scars all over his face: what appeared to have been a slash across his cheek; his right eyebrow was parted due to an old but seemingly deep wound; small nicks and cuts along his jawline; and his neck had all sort of faded markings.

But the thing that troubled her the most, were two scars poking from under his shirt's collar. They were deep diagonal wounds that had scarred badly over time. They ended on the base of his neck slightly above his clavicles; she'd say they originated from the ribs under his armpit if she had to guess. Despite everything, the most worrisome fact was that they were symmetrical. Thus she could bet both of her careers that those had been no accident at all, that they were deliberately man-made and with no medical purpose whatsoever.

She had been approaching him without really knowing she was moving at all. A hand covered her gaping mouth as tears welled in her eyes. She couldn't fathom to imagine who, how or even why someone would have done such things to the young man. Her maternal instincts pushed her to reach out for him with her other hand, but she halted as he immediately flinched to the touch; followed by a slight twitch from the rest of his body.

Emma stood there silently for god knows how long, as the crowds surrounding them bustled around minding their own business. She had an inner turmoil trying to decide what to do next. She wanted to embrace the boy and help him with whatever she could, but she didn't know how to approach him without doing more emotional harm. She wanted to hunt down and tear apart whoever was responsible for this, but if it was his family she would gamble they wouldn't be here to pick him up at all. If it had been someone else's doing, she wouldn't know where to start either. Reason dictated that the only way forward would be to brace herself. She would do her utmost best to break through the emotional cocoon that the boy probably carried, helping him out from there.

"Emma, honey" -Dan said* shaking her out of musings*- "Hermione says that Harry-"

"He's coming home with us Dan" -She said with a sense of finality that would brook no arguments.

Unbeknownst to her, father and daughter smiled as they had arrived to the same conclusions if only by slightly different reasons.

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It was almost midnight, Hermione and her parents were sitting in the kitchen table drinking some tea to ease their nerves from the day. It was only then that they finally received Minerva's reply. They had owled her shortly after arriving back home to inquire about the sudden appearance of new scars, as Hermione had been certain that it was related to Harry being a Metamorphmagus.

Taking the offered letter from Hedwig, she quickly read through it. Her parents waited patiently for her to finish despite they have been almost as anxious as herself throughout the day. At least her mother was, as her father had a knack for being level-headed under strenuous situations.

After the few moments it took Hermione to read through it, she passed it to her mother. She leaned her head on her hands with her elbows resting on the table as she proceeded to analyze the new information.

"Princess? What is it?" -Asked Dan in complete calm

"Wouldn't you want to read it first?" -Asked Hermione, as her mother had yet to finish.

Dan chuckled despite the situation- "It's not only biology but it also has a magical component. I think I better hear the explanation from you"

Hermione nodded- "Makes sense. Minnie says that his condition as a Metamorphmagus make it a tricky situation when it comes to common scarring. As I've explained you both, Harry has the ability to change his appearance and that would include fading his scars completely. And that would be the case if he were to cut himself with paper or anything of unimportance like that"

Hermione trailed off turning back to her thoughts, forcing Dan to prompt her to continue- "But?"

"But it's a completely different thing when the wounds are accompanied by trauma, particularly when it is emotional trauma. She said that there have been cases when a Metamorphmagus has an emotional relapse causing old wounds that had physically faded to resurface as they left a psychological imprint"

Dan hummed in acknowledgement but he seemingly picked from her expression that that wasn't everything within the letter. He raised an eyebrow as he asked- "Was there anything else princess?"

Hermione doubted for a second how to say it, as she knew she wouldn't let things happen any other way- "She also offered to drop by early in the morning to pick up Harry and take him back to the castle, saying that we shouldn't have our holidays disrupted for this whole mess" -Hermione couldn't fight back the tears welling in the corner of her eyes- "But I don't want to. He has not only saved me twice but he is also my very first friend. He has never had any loving or even friendly relationships before in his life as far as I know. We cannot abandon him like that!"

Hermione couldn't hold them anymore, and a few lonely tears began to trail down her cheeks. Dan seemed to take a breath in order to respond, but Emma cut into the conversation first

"Don't worry sweety, we won't" -She said leaving the letter to one side and reaching over the table for her daughter's hand. She turned to look at her husband with serious determination- "He will stay with us for the whole winter break or as much as he wants. We WILL help that poor child. There's no way I'm just gonna ship him off for things to be sorted out by whatever system this people see fit"

Dan raised his hands in surrender- "It's fine by me, I wasn't going to oppose anyway. This kid did manage to save my princess two times so far, so I feel like I owe him way more than a place to stay over the holidays"

Hermione couldn't help but smile despite her tears and the situation. She stood from her chair and sprinted around the table to hug her dad as her mum joined the hug- "Thanks dad. And you too mum"

"I'd do anything for my queen and princess" -Said Dan as he rubbed Hermione's back- "Should we wake up Harry and let him know?"

"No, I think it would be best for him to rest tonight. We'll break the news to him in the morning. Sweetie, why don't you go ahead and let your professor know that Harry will be staying with us and that she shouldn't worry about it" -Said Emma

Untangling from her parents and wiping the remnants of her tears, Hermione nodded energetically- "Yes! Right away mum"

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20 Dec - Su

Harry woke up the next day inside a bed not of his own, in a room he quite didn't recognize. The room was decently sized, with double windows covered in see-through curtains. He was lying on a queen sized bed and there was a dresser on the opposite wall. He looked at the nightstand besides him grateful to find his wand on top; his trunk was lying next to it.

"What the hell happened?" -Harry murmured to himself as he rubbed his forehead. With great effort he managed to recall departing from Hogwarts and arriving to London. Saying goodbye to Nym; his nervousness over meeting the Grangers… He did remember trailing after Hermione while looking for her parents, but his mind turned foggy after that.

He heard a knock coming from the door. But before he could even answer it had already been cracked open as Hermione's head peeked inside- "Harry? Are you awake?"

"Yeah, you can come inside if you like" -He invited her in.

"How are you feeling today?" -She asked softly as she finally entered the room, wearing jeans and a honey coloured sweater.

"Aside from the headache? I guess just fine. Tell me… wha- what happened yesterday?" -Harry asked slightly ashamed of not being able to remember

"Oh Harry, you don't need to worry anymore. After I explained to my parents about your… relatives, we all agreed that we would love for you to stay during all the holidays" -She said with a gentle smile.

"My relatives? Why would you need to explain them abou-" -Just like that Harry felt his mind being flooded as the fog of his memories dissipated. His eyes opened like saucers as everything rushed back. Greeting Emma and Dan; the conversation implying he would be staying with the Dursleys; and then everything else ceased to make sense. The Grangers were worried and took him home. He had barely held any conversation with them; he had been too shocked to talk. He had been at ease; relaxed and confident that it would be another term before he had to go back to that hellhole. So his mind had crashed when confronted with the idea. Harry started hyperventilating. He knew he wouldn't go catatonic like yesterday, but he still found it hard to cope with the fact of going to Little Surrey so soon.

"Harry! Harry, relax" -Said Hermione rushing to his side. She pressed his cheeks with both of her hands and forced him to look at her- "Calm down and breathe. You are staying with us, nobody is going anywhere. YOU are not going back there, you hear me?"

Harry immediately nodded but it took him a little bit longer to actually comprehend her. He forced his breathing to slow down- "I- Herm- Tha-" -The words were getting caught in his mouth

Hermione let go of his face only to hold him by the shoulders as she rubbed them trying to ease his nerves- "That's it. Relax. You are staying with us and there's nothing you should worry about"

'But that's just it' -He thought as he looked at her face- "Hermione I-... Thank you, but I can't. I'll just find my way back to Hogwarts instead"

"What?! No! Why would you do that?" -Hermione exclaimed, now holding him tightly by the shoulders.

"Because…" -Harry began to explain but had to look away from her face so the words could come out- "I don't wanna be a burden to you- to your family. It's not only winter break but Christmas as well and I know… I know it's supposed to be for family and I should have never agreed to come" -He took a deep breath. Strangely, Hermione didn't seem about to butt in so he kept going- "I just thought it would be nice to have a Christmas with someone who didn't hate my guts. But I should have been content with having one away from them. So I… I'll send a post with Hedwig to let Minnie know that I'm going back and ask if there is any simple way to go back. Otherwise I'll just get as close as I can by train and trek the rest of the way"

"Are you done?" -Asked Hermione with a chilling calm only raising an eyebrow.

Harry only had time to nod once before a fierce slap connected with his cheek- "Harry James Potter! You will be doing no such thing!" -The slap had lacked the strength that Petunia's slaps carried. But it had hurt him at least thrice worse than that, as he would have never expected such a thing from Hermione.

A moment later Hermione's rage was suddenly replaced by regret. She threw her arms around him in a hug which he couldn't escape despite having instinctively flinched back- "Oh Harry I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry" -She murmured into his shoulder, squeezing him tightly and pulling him towards her- "I didn't mean to. It's just… yesterday was such a shitty day and now you are talking this nonsense about going back to the school on your own" -She pulled away in order to look at him in the eye, without ever letting go of his shoulders- "Listen… Christmas is for family AND friends Harry. And you are MY friend, you hear me? Yesterday was all a misunderstanding because I never thought of explaining mum and dad about your relatives in any of my letters, so they just assumed that… that… that those _pigs_ were actually decent people! Mum and dad had no idea beforehand, but now we've talked about it and they have no problem with you staying over. Ha! In fact, dad feels this is the least he could do after you saved me. So please, we would like for you to stay over the holidays. I-... I want you to stay… please? Stay for a week at the very least and if you… if you still feel uncomfortable and still want to leave, we… we'll help you get back to the castle despite how much I abhor the idea"

Harry looked at her in the eye as she explained with tears welling up on her eyes. His cheek was still burning, but the emotional pang to his chest had slowly faded with every word and the physical pain meant little to him. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath, furiously thinking about everything. He realized he still would like to try and experience a decent Christmas for the very first time despite the nerves and fear he felt over the very concept. He still had so very little to lose and so much to gain, same as when he had accepted to join Hogwarts despite not knowing what it was. He felt a shy smile forming in his face as he opened his eyes. Hermione was still looking expectantly at him, a few tears had already fallen but her face seemed to be slowly filling with hope.

Harry nodded once- "Okay, I-... I'd like to try and stay for a week at the very least"

Hermione beamed at him before tackling him with a hug, causing both of them to fall on the bed- "Thank you. I can only imagine how much this might mean to you but… but I want you to know how much it means for me as well. You- you are my very first friend and the only one to have ever agreed to come visit me at home" -She blurted out the last part and squeezed him tighter for a few moments; before suddenly letting go and pushing herself away from the bed. Her cheeks were slightly tinted with pink- "I'm sorry about that. And I'm truly sorry about slapping you it's just-"

Harry held up a hand to shush her- "It's okay, I get it. I know you easily get all worked up and stressed. And it's nothing really, we get it much worse in WCC" -He finished in a chuckle

Hermione couldn't help but to look at her feet still ashamed of herself- "Okay… thanks… and I'm sorry… but I'm really glad that you've decided to stay" -She spoke softly, finally looking up for the last part. Harry simply offered a smile and a nod from his lying position still on the bed- "Okay, I'll go to the kitchen so you can get changed. Come down for breakfast as soon as you are done. Oh! And would you please bring me my trunk? I didn't remember about it until I went to sleep but it was already too late to come for it. Actually, just drop it in my room before you come down if you please. It's the door across from yours"

Once alone, Harry got changed into a fresh shirt and yesterday's jeans and hoodie. He hauled Hermione's trunk from within his and carried it to her room. He couldn't help but snort and have a quiet laugh at her girly-pink room. After dropping her trunk by the door, he went downstairs and followed the voices to what he expected to be the kitchen.

"Morning" -He greeted upon entering.

"Good morning Harry" -Said Dan looking up from his newspaper only stifle a laugh upon seeing him.

"Harry! Good morning, how are you feeling today?" -Said Emma more cheerfully as she turned from the coffee machine to look at him. Upon setting her eyes on him, she exploded- "Hermione! You didn't mention anything about slapping his face! After all we've taught you and everything that happened yesterday, the first thing you go and do when I ask you to check if he is awake is to slap him!?"

Hermione looked sheepishly to her plate, not daring to meet her mother's vengeful gaze. Thankfully for her, Dan intervened- "Relax honey, the kid willingly went after a troll to save our princess. I'm sure he can take a slap on the wrist"

Emma immediately turned to look murderously at her husband. But before she could tear him apart, Harry decided to intervene- "It's fine really. It was kinda my fault and I do get much worse than this in WCC" -Upon their confused faces he decided to elaborate- "I guess you could say it's kinda like MMA"

This seemed to catch Dan's interest- "So he doesn't only play the role of a knight but he also trains to become a warrior"

Emma smacked Dan's shoulder- "He saved you for now, but you are not quite out of it yet"

Harry couldn't help himself from chuckling- 'Now I can finally see from where she gets it'

The three Grangers looked at him in query. But before Harry could explain himself, Dan started laughing softly as he shook his head- "I can see he already noticed that apple doesn't fall far from the tree"

"Hey!" -Complained Hermione, finally coming out from her remorse.

"And why would you feel offended by that?" -Said Emma raising her chin in what was clearly fake arrogance.

Dan laughed at their bantering and Harry couldn't help the smile that crept across his face- 'Staying might not be half as bad after all'

Emma seemed to notice his change of mood and a motherly smile crept across her face- "I can see you are feeling way better" -She spoke once the laughter began to abate- "And I'm so glad you do. But as much as I'd really like to know more about you, how about some breakfast first?"

Harry felt almost as relieved as he was grateful for that. With a nod, he walked over and proceeded to help preparing breakfast despite Emma's complaints.

* * *

%%%

23 Dec - We

Harry was grateful that the Grangers hadn't forced him to talk about his relatives after all. He had enjoyed his stay with them so far and he was certain that such a conversation would have left everyone with a sour taste.

Emma and Dan had arranged their work vacations to match Hogwart's winter break in order to spend as much time with Hermione as possible, which now included Harry as well. So during the last couple of days, Harry got the chance to witness the everyday routine of a loving family. It had been enough to allow for some warm to seep into his beaten heart, making his time with them all the more enjoyable.

That alone had been more than enough reason for him to be happy for the present opportunity. Harry had accidentally eavesdropped some talk about a trip to downtown London in order to buy some last minute Christmas presents, so he had seized the opportunity to hitch a ride and buy some of his own. Unprecedented for him, they had insisted to make it a family trip instead, which lead to all four of them currently walking down Diagon Alley.

They were leisurely walking halfway down the alley, absentmindedly window shopping when Harry bumped into Dan without meaning to.

"Sorry Dan, I wasn't really looking where I was going" -Said Harry ashamed of his clumsiness.

Dan offered him a smile and nodded towards a bookstore, where Hermione was nearly drooling on the window as Emma tried to get her attention- "Don't you worry kid; we had to wait for the ladies anyway. We are heading towards Gringotts to exchange some galleons. Would you need some help with your presents?"

"I haven't quite decided what I am going to get but I've been taking mental notes of the shops I'd like to visit" -Answered Harry, not entirely sure whether that had been the question.

Dan chuckled- "Oh, that's not what I meant. I'm asking whether you need some gold"

Harry rubbed the back his head and laughed trying to hide his embarrassment- "Oh, no. I believe I have enough left from my trust to get everything I need"

Dan nodded in acknowledgement, but before he could utter another word Emma butted in- "Oh Harry, would you be a dear and keep an eye on Hermione? We need to go to Gringotts but she's currently too distracted with the possibility of new books. Don't you worry about the money as I've left with her all the galleons we had left and we are getting more from the bank anyway. If you need-"

"Darling, I've just discussed that with him" -Dan interrupted her with a hand on her shoulder.

"What? Why?! We said we were all going together down to Gringotts!"

Dan nodded once again towards the bookstore- "Because I can only imagine what it would take to drag her out from there without going inside" -He said with a grin.

Emma huffed and playfully smacked him in the chest- "You and your reconnaissance skills. Let's go then"

"Yes dear. Harry, I trust you can keep an eye on my princess, right?"

"Don't worry sir, I'll even help her pick the books and carry them if necessary"

"I'm glad to hear that. We'll be waiting for you at the ice-cream parlour in let's say… two hours" -Said Dan

Harry acknowledged the deadline before turning and heading towards the bookstore, determined in helping Hermione out to get through her book-shopping as fast as they could so he could do some of his own.

It had taken a whole hour before Hermione was merely satisfied with her new books. If Harry had to take a guess, he'd say she had bought enough reading material for another full year at Hogwarts. He was glad he had brought his scholar satchel, or he would have most certainly pulled a muscle dragging so many books around the alley.

Twenty minutes after that, he had already bagged 4 out of the 5 main gifts he needed. A bottle of firewhiskey for Dan, an acromantula-silk scarf for Emma, a blouse made of regular silk for Tonks and a pair of jeans for Nev- 'Right… now I need something nice for Hermione before getting something smaller for the other ravens. Books are most certainly out of the question with everything she has already bought. What could I possibly give her?'

As he thought about his options, a certain shop caught his eye and he remembered it would be an ideal time to get some new treats for Hedwig- "Hermione, let's go to that pet shop as I need some treats for Hedwig"

After paying for the treats, he walked around Magical Menagerie looking for Hermione. He found her on the back fawning over a black kitten. He stood there for a moment silently watching how she played with small animal. He was about to ask her whether she would like to take it, when the shop clerk who had just sold him the treats arrived.

"Sir, would you be interested in anything else?"

"How much for the kitty?" -He said nodding towards Hermione.

The clerk looked at him reproachfully- "Sir, I'm afraid such a joke is of poor taste. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave"

Harry was puzzled for a moment- "I meant the black cat" -He said dryly.

"Oh, my most sincere apologies" -Said the clerk before taking a closer look at the kitten playing with Hermione's locks. For some weird reason, he was suddenly alarmed- "John! Close the shop! There's one on the loose!"

"Why? What got out of its cage now?" -Shouted back the cashier.

"The black one! Now hurry up and shut us down!"

"Huh? The black one… OH FOR MERLIN'S CURLY BEARD!" -The cashier finally understood before falling into panic. He pulled his wand and casted a quick spell to a contraption on the ceiling, which upon activation brought crashing down metal bars braided into a resilient net on every door and window. Everything went down so fast that a customer who was just leaving got the back of his robes completely torn.

'What the fuck…' -Was the only thing in Harry's mind as he watched everything unfold- "Umm… What's wrong?"

"That beast is a hell-spawn!" -said the clerk pointing to the black kitten, cradled in Hermione's arms.

"How dare you?!" -Said Hermione taking offense.

Harry snorted trying to drown his laughter before the misunderstanding could escalate even further- "I think he means the kitty"

Hermione turned a deathly glare on him- "I know he means the kitty, Harry"

Harry gulped- "Sorry, didn't really mean it like that. But I can't see why everyone is making such a fuss over a small kitten"

"That thing might be small but I'm most certain it's a half breed between a Cat Sith and a Kneazle!"

Hermione huffed indignantly- "This cat is nothing but a poor misunderstood Kellas. I'm gonna take it home before you dare make any harm to it"

"Miss, if I were you I would leave it here so we can sell it to a magizoologist or a potioneer once it has sufficiently grown. This half breed is going to be more trouble than you could ever imagine"

Hermione was horrified enough to stutter- "Ho-how dare you ta-talk about selling it for potions ingredients" -She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down- "There is no chance in hell I'm leaving the poor thing here, I'm taking it!"

The clerk snorted- "Suit yourself, but we won't take it back once you regret it. And that will be 90 galleons; it's the least we could get out of any of those sales"

Hermione was momentarily shocked into silence. Harry had known that she spent everything her parents left her on the bookstore, so he quickly summoned the amount of gold from his enchanted gold bag and offered it to the clerk with both hands- "We'll take it"

"Harry, that's too much. Don't you worry about it, I'll just ask mum for the money once we meet with them"

Harry shook his head- "Not a chance. This is my Christmas present for you. I had no idea what to get you after all those books you bought yourself, so this will do perfectly" -He turned back to the clerk- "Now take the gold and open up the shop so we may leave. We are taking the kitten and that's final"

The clerk half huffed and half grunted before saying- "Suit yourself kids, it will be your funeral anyway"

After some quick bartering between a pissed off Hermione and the shop clerk, they left the pot shop with the kitten inside its new carrier courtesy of the house. Once outside, Hermione turned towards Harry.

"Harry… I really appreciate you buying it for me, but this is way too much for a Christmas present. Let me talk to my parents and I'll give you your money back"

"Not a chance" -Harry said resolutely, mildly surprising Hermione. After a sigh he proceeded to explain- "Look. It has been a blast spending time in your house with your family. I believe that for the very first time ever I'm actually looking forward to celebrate Christmas. And all this is thanks to you. You invited me to your home when you didn't really have to. I… I know that paying for your cat doesn't really compare to it, but there is nothing else I can think of and it's the least I could do"

For the first time that he could think of, Hermione seemed momentarily at a loss for words. Once she regained her bearings, she smiled fondly to him; she nodded and she said- "Okay, I won't challenge you on that. And I promise to cherish and take care of Kuro in your honor"

Harry laughed softly as he shook his head- "I'd be more than happy if you do that. But why Kuro?"

She giggled before giving him a radiant smile- "It's Japanese for black. And it's a black kitty after all"

Harry could only smile at that, a moment later he motioned her to follow- "Come, I still need to get something for the other ravens"

"Okay, where are we going next?"

Harry did some quick mental math- 'Fuck, I must be shy of forty galleons left. I guess something cheap will have to do' -Without letting in show in his face, he turned towards her- "I guess some fancy chocolate will do"

* * *

%%%

25 Dec - Fr

It was Christmas morning as Harry along the three Grangers were all opening their respective presents along a delicious breakfast.

Emma had loved the scarf he got for her almost as much as Dan had been amused by his firewhiskey. He had ventured to try a sip of it despite the hour, only to burp some flames and surprise everyone over the fact that slogan had been true to its words.

Hermione have been thrilled and fawning all over her new kitty ever since her parents allowed her to keep it, not that they could have actually refused to anyway. Harry had been surprised when they got back to the Granger's home on Wednesday; only then had he discovered that the black kitten had a spot of white fur in its chest as well as mismatched eyes, being one emerald like his and the other a purple colour almost like an amethyst. It had turned out to be a sweet kitty despite the pet's shop clerk complaints.

"Okay Harry, we've opened up our presents as you stubbornly forced us. Now it's your turn to see what you got" -Said Emma, as she seemed to relish in the softness of her new scarf despite the heating on the house being on.

Already being the last, he couldn't stall the opening of his presents any more. He had been dreading the possibility of everything being nothing but a dream. So he had delayed it as much as he could, terrified to wake up at any given moment.

He went first for the one he had been the most excited about since its delivery. A present in the shape of what had to be undeniably a flying broom; had it not being delivered by owl he would have been half afraid to find a regular broom on behalf of the Dursleys. Tearing apart its wrapping, he held it in awe in both hands.

"Is that one of those supposedly flying brooms?" -Asked Dan half as excited as he was- "Must be a thrilling experience"

"Yeah, it most definitely is" -He answered as he admired it; daydreaming about the joy and the speed of the winds he would feel rushing past once he took it up into the air.

"Oh gods" -Exclaimed Emma in laughter- "There's no chance in hell he'll take a second glance at our gifts after that"

"Wh-what?" -He stammered, slightly ashamed of the trance he had fallen into- "Not chance! And sorry about that, but I gotta say that flying feels like something else"

"That might be the case but only for you" -Said Hermione with a shiver, causing a bout of good natured laughter from her parents- "Who is it from?"

"Let me see… it's Minnie's"

######

 _Harry,_

 _I hope you are enjoying yourself amongst Hermione and her family. This is not only a Christmas present but also my way of thanking you for saving one of my ravens; from not only a most terrible flying accident but also an event that could have turned to be a dreadful encounter with a frightening creature._

 _I hope I don't need to remind you about the importance of muggles not finding out about magic, but I feel it's only adequate that I do anyway: Do. Not. Get. Caught. Flying. Around._

 _I probably should have waited for you to be back at the castle, but it would be a shame to deny you any further Christmas joy._

 _Best wishes,_

 _Minerva_

 _P.S.: I'll vehemently deny any and all allegations of this having anything to do with your position in the Quidditch team._

 _#####_

Harry couldn't hide the blush on his cheeks over the part of this being a thank you for saving Hermione. But he couldn't help either the snort that came his way over the last sentence.

"What did she say?" -Asked a curious Hermione.

"That I shouldn't fly it and that it's completely unrelated to Quidditch" -He said with mirth.

Hermione sighed as she shook her head but didn't say a word.

Harry picked another gift. It was a heavy square box in blue wrapping and as he grabbed it he could sense Hermione's nervousness over the corner of his eye. He opened the box to find two new books on Transfiguration and Charms, both of them quite advanced for their current level.

"I'm sorry Harry, I knew that it was more a gift more for the likes of me but I can see after Minnie's that it's not even close to be of your liking. If you want I-"

"Nonsense, I love it" -Harry cut her off with a warm smile- "Not only I'm interested in both subjects but I'm fully convinced that they will be extremely useful as you were the one to choose them. Thank you; and I mean it Hermione"

Hermione couldn't fight off her blush so she chose to look at her feet instead- "You are welcome. I'm glad you like them after all"

"And this is from us" -Said Emma a moment later with a motherly smile- "We're more than happy that you've been with us for Christmas"

"And we'll be forever grateful that you saved our princess" -Added Dan.

He accepted the gift with a blush, still not able to feel completely comfortable whenever they brought that up- "Thanks"

He opened the package only to find an amazing black coat with dark red details. It was made of what could only be acromantula silk, it was soft and fully reinforced with leather without hindering his movement.

"Its acromantula silk reinforced with dragonhide" -Explained Dan.

"I- I can't. This is way too much, you shouldn't-"

"You can and you will" -Emma softly interrupted him- "Hermione could be spending Christmas with not only severe injuries but might have been ended up crippled after both events. Not to say that we would have been very lucky had she not died" -Explained with teary eyes.

"There is no such thing as an expensive gift compared to our daughter's life" -Added Dan, shedding just a simple manly tear.

Harry's eyes watered as well- "Thank you, a lot. But there would be not a chance in hell that I would ever abandon her to her own luck in the face of danger"

Harry was suddenly tackled from the side by a crying Hermione. Her hug was tight enough to strain his breathing.

"Sweetie, let him go before you actually choke him" -Said Emma after a few moments, unable to hold her laughter despite she was still wiping a few tears.

* * *

%%%

26 Dec - Sa

"BOO!" -Shouted Harry as he suddenly shook Hermione's arm after having crept up on her as she read on the couch.

"AAAHHH! God dammit Harry! Stop doing that! You've been doing nothing but fool around since you found out it was an invisibility cape. I'm gonna ask dad to take it from you until we leave if you keep up with this"

"Oh, I doubt he would do so" -He said with a grin- "He borrowed it a few hours ago and I'm pretty sure he used it to scare Emma himself, if her screams were anything to go by"

"Argh! Just what we needed, a man-child. But then I'll just have to go to mum"

Harry hummed as he thought about it- "I know she wouldn't come asking for it. But I'm pretty sure she would go for payback if she already had it"

"Yeah… you're probably right" -She grumbled before complaining- "Can't imagine who would gift you anything like that. I believe it was highly irresponsible"

"I quite disagree, but I'd like to know who it was. Whoever it was, it's clear that he knew my father and knows who I really am"

"Can I see the note please?" -She asked as Harry swiftly obliged. After a few moments she threw it on the couch and turned to stare at Harry- "What did you do with it?"

"Huh?"

"The note! I'm quite certain it's charmed. I started having this pressure to do mischief after holding it for a moment"

"Hermione, not only I have no idea how would I even do that but we can't use our wands either and my crystal would stop working as soon as I let go of it"

Hermione opened her mouth to argue but held her tongue. After thinking about it for a moment- "You are right. But that could only mean that whoever sent it was the one to charm it. I think we should burn it just in case it is enchanted to do anything else"

Harry shrugged- "Fine by me, it's not that hard to remember what it says anyway"

They were both in the kitchen watching the note burn inside the sink, where they had decided to turn it alight just in case it was more volatile than they expected.

"You know…" -Said Harry- "It also gave me this nagging desire to explore. What troubles me is that I couldn't help myself from thinking about exploring the castle"

Hermione hummed as she watched the parchment burn with rapt attention- "Yeah, Hogwarts also came to mind but I thought nothing of it as we were dealing with magic" -She seemed to mull over it for a few moments- "Maybe you should be careful when we get back to the castle. It would be wise to bring this up to Minnie as well"

"Yeah… I don't think it would be very bright of me telling her that I have an invisibility cloak. But I can agree with you on the careful part"

* * *

%%%

Minerva was walking up the stairs to Albus' office as she wondered why he would have summoned her. She was used to sharing tea with Albus from time to time, but usually it wasn't until later in the afternoon and it had never been due to a note delivered by one of the house elves- 'Notes delivered by house-elves are usually related to one of my ravens misbehaving, as rare as that might be. But I would have thought there weren't even enough of them left within the castle to warrant a conflict'

Upon knocking on the headmaster's door, Albus beckoned her in and invited her to take a sit.

"Yes Albus? What's happening? I was half expecting someone in need of detention"

"Whether detention is to be needed is yet to be determined. You see, it has come to my attention that young Harry is not within the school grounds. Have you got any insight as to where he might be?"

"Oh yes Albus, though I must admit that you almost had me worried at that. He's gone to spend the break with Hermione and her family. I signed him off after she graciously invited him and both came to me for approval"

"And please tell me Minerva, why would you allow that to happen? After what you told me, I would be dubious at best to acknowledge the very possibility of the Dursleys' signing off any slip for him"

Minerva was starting to have her own reservations of where the headmaster might be trying to lead her with such conversation- "I'm afraid that that's the very same reasoning I followed before allowing it. The Dursleys' have no intention whatsoever of even considering Harry's well-being. In fact, I'm quite certain that they would have gone through an extra amount of hassle if only to further deny the child from experiencing the joy of Christmas"

"I see, then I-"

"No Albus; please don't interrupt. Since you've brought this up, I would like to propose something I've thinking over since the term started. I'd like for us to start moving around and find a way to remove Harry from that wretched household. It's far from a decent environment for him to grow up and let's not even talk about a loving one. Not only do we owe as much to Harry himself, but we also owe it to the memory and sacrifice of his parents. I'm afraid to even consider what would have been of our world if Lily had never succeeded in whatever she did to protect Harry"

"Do you mind if I say a few words?" -Asked Albus with an annoyed look. Nearly out of breath due to her own tirade, she had no reason to object- "Very good. But I'm afraid that the chances of what you are proposing is to ever happen are far from being small" -Minerva took a small breath of relief before feeling choked- "As I'm hereby warning you not to pursuit this crusade of yours. It's of imperative importance that Harry remains with his aunt and uncle until the day he becomes of age. Failing to do so would not only place his life in grave danger but I'm afraid it would endanger the future of our community as well. You are very much aware that I hold his legal guardianship within our world and I advise you not to try going against my stance in this particular matter"

"I wish I could believe you really don't mean what you've just said, but I'm afraid that I know you much better than that. I've told you before and you chose to ignore me, but this time you won't shut me down. I don't care if you are prepared to pull every resource and every favor at your disposal, but I will most certainly do my best to remove him from there. He has much better choices than those people. I'm certain that Nymphadora would be the first to offer him a place to call home as she's thrilled over the fact of meeting another one of her kind without even taking into account that they are kin by blood. I wouldn't be surprised if the Grangers would be happy to take him in as well once they get to meet him over the holidays. And where it the case he had nowhere else to go, I would be honored to take him in myself"

"I'm being serious Minerva; do not follow this fool's errand because I will crush each and every one of your attempts. I won't take any measures over the fact that he's not at school right now as an act of mercy towards you and everyone involved. But I'm deadly serious when I command you not to go around the rules in regards of Harry's trips and housing" -He paused for a moment to level his calmed mighty-wizard gaze on her and Minerva had to clench her fists in order to avoid unleashing her fury- "I see that you won't come around this time, so let's let this be it for now. I'd ask you if you want some tea but I wouldn't believe you'd enjoy it at the moment, so you are free to go"

Opting not to escalate things and act in a way she would later regret, she stood from her chair, offered a curt nod and left the office forcing her body to appear calm. She would have actually blasted into smithereens anyone who would as much as cross her path.

* * *

%%%

30 Dec - Fr

Hermione was getting irked over Tonks' visit and she couldn't exactly figure out why; being unable to discern why seemed to only add salt to the wound.

Everything had started shortly after her arrival.

Tonks had brought Christmas gifts for Harry and her. Hermione had felt kinda insulted when she opened hers only to find a blank diary; for a moment she had thought that Tonks was either pulling her leg or considered her like a child. But she couldn't even try to hide her excitement once she found out what it really was: Tonks had said it was a blank grimoire that would never run out of pages. She had almost knocked Tonks over when she jumped on top of her to give her thanks.

But then everything quickly faded away as Harry's reaction to his present turned to be exactly like hers. Except that his extra body mass lead him and Tonks to topple over to the ground; Harry pinning her down and neither of them being too quick nor eager to untangle. It almost seemed as if they were already used to that kind of closeness.

They had some brunch after that, where her parents decided to join them. They got along well with Tonks' playful nature and all of them had a good time. But for the first time, Hermione couldn't help but notice how comfortable Harry seemed to be around Tonks. How they would banter with each other but always end up in laughter; how Tonks would brace herself from falling over by grabbing Harry's shoulder and he wouldn't even seem to notice the added weight. Hermione knew she liked Tonks and would even go as far as to consider her a friend. But she felt annoyed nonetheless.

After a few hours of lounging around in her living room and sharing stories, they decided to head for the local cinema and catch a movie. Harry had been thrilled over the idea, making it evident for both girls that it was a rare treat for him if he had even gone before.

They opted to go on foot instead of asking her parents for a ride, and they had constantly switched places on their way there as they walked side by side. She felt flustered over the fact; despite she couldn't help but try and get in between the three of them only for Tonks to shortly after switch to Harry's other side. She was certain that Harry had taken it as a game he didn't know about.

Once they had arrived, they allowed Harry to pick the movie they would be watching. He ended up choosing Kingdom of Heaven. With their snacks in hand, they went inside the cinema room and Harry managed to manoeuvre himself into the middle seat despite Hermione's and Tonks' best efforts to claim it themselves. She noticed sometime after the movie started that Tonks had taken hold of his hand; prompting Hermione to snatch the other one despite the blush that crept her face once she did so. It had proved hard for her to concentrate on the movie after that, but she reasoned it was a good one. After all, she had seen Harry pay rapt attention to it for its whole length. A couple of times she had actually been unable to hold down her giggles at some of his faces, too engrossed in the movie to actually notice he was doing them.

It was late in the afternoon when they left the movies, so they decided to go for a bite; opting for pizza as it was something they never served at Hogwarts. She had been grateful that Tonks had finally relented her hold on Harry during their dinner, allowing her to do the same and enjoy their time together way better.

After that they decided it would be better to head back to Hermione's home. Upon arrival, Tonks said she wouldn't be staying as she had to get back as well. For their first time, Harry and Hermione got to witness the way that the Knight Bus defied every law of physics they had previously believed to know.

Much later that night, as Hermione performed her routinely Occlumency exercises before sleep; she considered for a fleeting moment that unknown feeling that had ruled over her most of the day. She wondered if it could have been jealousy, if that had been the real reason she had been so bothered with Tonks for most of the day. But that held some underlying assumptions; assumptions of which she wasn't yet ready to embrace.

* * *

01 Jan - Su

Harry had been greatly enjoying his last couple of days at the Granger's home. He had spent most of the time fooling and joking around; basking himself in the little things of the family that brought some new light into his life. Things that he could have never hoped to experience back at the Dursleys'.

Most of the day would scurry away with Hermione's company; either lazing around, doing some light reading or Hermione trying to focus on her own reading as he focused on his own stuff, which Hermione seemed fond of _playfully_ labeling as annoying.

For most of the meals he felt compelled to help Emma out in the kitchen. It had taken a while the first time for her to allow it, as she kept repeating that he was a guest and there was no need for him to do it. She had slightly eased on it once they had all tried his cooking and he had also learned how much enjoyable it was cooking for people you liked; without anyone breathing down your neck.

A few times he even dared to share some tea with Dan, as Hermione had been busy finishing her own reading. He found that he had mixed feelings regarding the man, as if something didn't entirely fit together. He had told him all about Hogwarts, flying and particularly about Quidditch. In exchange Dan had shared some of his adventures when he was young, how he had traveled the continent and sometimes even ventured into the wild, trekking around forests and mountains. But from what had been told, it seemed as if that guy had suddenly vanished to be replaced by a dentist; no more wild tales of adventures. He also had the nagging sensation that Dan perceived more of him than he would like to be known, as if his perception of other went miles further than what was necessary for a dental practice.

Tonks had also shown up last Friday for a visit. She had a Christmas gift for him that he wouldn't have ever thought of buying himself: she got him a nice silver chain with a clasp to tightly secure his quartz around his neck. He was thrilled with the gift, as the quartz held a great value for him and he had always been afraid of losing it.

The three of them had spent a wonderful afternoon, which consisted of going to the movies for the first time in his life and sharing some pizza afterwards. Though he had to admit that both girls had acted awkwardly, and he never really got to figure out why.

But all that had been days ago and right now there was a beautiful sight to witness. Harry along with the Grangers were standing on a little balcony watching the fireworks that were welcoming the new year. The lightshow was truly mesmerizing and not for the first time he was glad that he had taken Hermione on her offer for the holidays.

'The only thing that could beat this would be to be currently up there'

It took only a moment for that stray thought to ignite, transforming wishful thinking into a real possibility. He tugged Hermione by the sweater- "Come"

Hermione turned her gaze from the fireworks towards him, a smile still plastered on her face- "Huh? Where?"

"I've got an idea" -He said with a grin- "But I better show you"

He led her to his room and he quickly began to rummage through his trunk.

He heard the door clicking shut before Hermione mumbled- "Harry, I- I don't think my parents would approve. Especially dad as he-"

"Huh?" -He turned around holding his broom in hand- "But I haven't even told you how we are gonna do it. And Dan seemed pretty enthusiastic over Quidditch, I doubt he would be against it"

Hermione's eyes suddenly widened and her face seemed to flush- "Uhh… okay, what were you actually planning?"

"I was going to propose you to go for a ride amongst the fireworks" -He offered with a grin.

"What?!" -Hermione exclaimed before sighing with exasperation as she rubbed her eyes- "Harry… you do remember that Minnie explicitly instructed you not to fly because of the whole secrecy thing, right?"

"Nope, she actually said not to get caught"

Hermione raised an eyebrow- "And how are you planning on doing that? You'd get thrown out of Hogwarts as soon as you cast a spell"

"Wrong again. That would be the case if I were to use my wand but…" -He said with a shit eating grin as he pulled the necklace holding his crystal from under his shirt- "However they pick on underage magic, it doesn't detect crystals"

Hermione narrowed her eyes- "You know that the stakes are quite high. I don't think it would be smart to risk expulsion for a night flight. And what makes you feel so confident that they won't be able know that you are using a crystal? They could just have some sort of country wide detection ward"

It was Harry who raised an eyebrow this time- "Oh really? And based on what we know so far, who or what would be able to feed enough magical energy for that kind of thing? And why didn't they come after you when you did accidental magic before Hogwarts? Or for that matter, why didn't they come after me when I used my crystal before Hogwarts?" -He asked with a smug smile

Hermione was about to argue when she brought her hand to rub her chin, deep in thought and holding a frown. After a few moments of thinking about it- "I guess you've got a point there… it should be extremely taxing to make such a thing. But what do you propose then? How do they do it? Don't tell me that you want me to believe it's just a bluff"

Harry shook his head- "Nope. I've already thought about it, but tell me… when did you learn we couldn't do magic outside from school?"

"After Minnie brought us back from Diagon Alley. She warned me about the consequences of using my wand until…" -realization seemed to dawn on her as her eyes widened- "So you propose that it's some kind of enchantment on our wands! And it would actually make sense, as it could leech small amounts of magic from ourselves with anyone knowing any better, enough to keep the enchantment going and send a signal whenever we cast magic. That way, the Ministry would only need to have some sort of magical antenna" -Her excitement was suddenly replaced with concern- "But you know that it's still a pretty big risk, as we are barely making an assumption on how do they do it. Harry… I know you like flying, but do you really believe it's worth the risk?"

Harry was momentarily stunned before he shrugged- "I guess you are right, but it doesn't really matter. I tried it last Wednesday while you were studying and nothing happened so far. So I say it's safe enough" -He said with a sheepish smile.

"Harry! What were you doing that you were so desperately to try?"

"I… Nothing really, I was just too certain of myself and didn't think through your last part"

"You- you- Argh! Goddammit Harry! That was not very raven of you" -She cursed crossing her arms and staring at him.

Harry sheepishly rubbed the back of his head- "Well… in my defense… I'm not the one top of our year, that's you actually. So it's only natural that you consider things that I missed?" -He tried to excuse his way out of this one- "Although I thought you would be more pissed about the flying"

That got Hermione's annoyance to be suddenly replaced by a cold sweat- "U-Uhm… but even if you do know that the quartz won't get us in trouble, we would still be seen"

Harry snorted and replied with a grin- "Nope, I've got that covered. I've been having some extra tutoring with Fillius and we've been focusing on illusions. I haven't got down the disillusionment charm yet, but I've got another that will do perfectly in the night sky"

"Bu-but… what about the fireworks!? Or why don't you go on your own? Harry, you know how I feel about flying"

"Don't worry about the fireworks, I won't get too close to them and we could always fly over the park as it's not safe to fire them from over there" -He said now with a gentle smile- "As for going on my own… Hermione… I've spent too many holidays on my own, so I'd rather share it with someone I care about. Please?" -He asked holding out a hand for her.

Hermione seemed to doubt for a moment. Her hand rose up to her chest, as her mind seemed to go in overdrive. She finally took his hand and spoke softly- "Okay… but you better not put us in unnecessary risk. You know I'm scared to death of heights, but I think… I think I'd like to share the view with you"

Without a second thought, Harry pulled her down the stairs and into the garden. He mounted his Nimbus before motioning to Hermione- "Come on, you'll need to ride behind me so I can steer us better. And remember that you must not let go of me or you'll become visible" -She reluctantly approached him, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear- "Oh, and I would pull up your hair if I were you.

"Why would I do that?" -She asked defiantly and crossing her arms- "I had to work a lot on it so it would look nice tonight"

"I know it looks lovely, but it won't let you see and it'll become a mess anyway" -He said casually provoking a slight blush on her face. She only huffed but did as he had asked, before climbing the broom behind him- "Hug my waist and hold on tight, as once I cast the glimmering charm it will be hard to see ourselves; especially in the middle of the night"

"Are you sure you can pull it off without your wand?"

"Yeah, I've been practicing over the week after finding out how fun it can be to surprise you" -He confessed with a chuckle only to receive a smack on the head- "Even if I have the cape, I guessed it would be nice to learn it properly as I'll hardly ever be without the crystal"

Hermione huffed behind his back before muttering- "No wonder you were so focused"

Harry could only laugh in response- "Alright, let's do this. And remember to not let go of me or the charm will probably break"

"Harry, there's no chance in hell I'm letting go of you once we are up there"

"Hmm… I guess you got a point" -Harry closed his eyes and focused. With the help of his Occlumency training, he pictured both of them in his mind slowly fading from sight. Once he felt he had accomplished the necessary focus, he muttered the incantation- " _Crepusculum_ "

**************(Hermione)******************

Hermione was amazed by the spell's result she was able to witness with her own eyes. Her skin slowly dimmed to an opaque dark colour, looking as if they had blend into the darkness. The lights on her backyard made it easy to find Harry, the broom and herself against the green background of the grass. But she knew it would be quite an ordeal to distinguish them up in the black sky; regardless of all the fireworks going around and everyone looking up.

"And here we go" -Said Harry in joy.

Harry took off and she pressed herself against his back. She saw her house growing smaller as they ascended into the night sky; she had to quickly close her eyes before she could panic. She focused her mind on her breathing, on the sound of fireworks going off in the distance and cold wind brushing her skin- 'So stupid of me, I should have brought a thicker coat'

She pressed herself even harder against Harry, the only other source of warmth up there and a refuge from the frontal winds. She caught a whiff of his scent and she was suddenly felt more self-aware of how tight she was holding onto him.

Hermione clawed her fingers into the fabric, only to feel the tight abdomen underneath. She pressed her head against him in order to listen to his steady breathing. She could feel the warmth of his body seeping into her; at the same time her cheeks began to burn. She had been forced to get so close to him, that she could almost picture the joy and excitement on his face as they flew over the night sky.

The same thrill she had seen when she sneaked into his Quidditch practices. She still couldn't really comprehend why she had done it so many times; beginning to doubt if all of it had really been to make up her mind regarding the two of them. But it didn't really matter now, she had finally decided to accept the fact that she wouldn't understand. She had only been able to accept that after realizing she would never comprehend, not without bringing down her walls. Because he had been the first to be there for her and that meant that she didn't have anything to compare to. After all, she had found out long ago that friendships were one of the few things her books couldn't explain.

"Hermione! Isn't this amazing?" -She could picture the grin in his face, clear from his voice as well as his body.

"Yes" -She answered before opening her eyes, barely pushing away from him so she could take a proper look at the show. If the fireworks looked nice from the ground, they were the most amazing spectacle from up this close. But what she got to see was even better. They were floating amongst the starry night; the lights of the city beautifully stretching on every direction as the cars on the roads acted as the musical-coloured lights on a Christmas tree. But the fireworks were beyond any measure, as they went off in a multitude of shapes and colours all around them. The warmth coming from Harry completed the picture for her, and nothing in the world could prevent the goofy smile on her face from showing.

She leaned her head over his shoulder- "It's beautiful" -She spoke softly yet loud enough to be heard despite of the ruckus- "But you lied" -She added with a smile, hugging him a little tighter.

"Oh yeah? About what?" -He said, slightly turning his head trying to get a glimpse of her without losing control.

"You said we would stay sufficiently away from them" -She could feel his grin- "But I'm glad you did. This is truly beyond anything else"

After that, she went back to rest her face on the crook of his back, relishing in the sights and feelings that assaulted her.

Harry maintained them adrift in the sky for a while, long enough for the cold air to take a hold of them despite of their shared body heat. She felt the first shiver when he finally broke the silence- "I'll take us back before you catch a cold, okay?"

Hermione simply hummed as she nodded, her face still pressed against his back. They were closing in to the house when she asked- "Can we lie on the roof and watch the last of the fireworks? I bet you could pull a warming charm now that we don't need to hide and we are out of the wind"

"Sure" -He steered the broom towards the roof and looked around for any cranny capable of giving them a safe foothold. They finally decided to drop on the tiles above the chimney.

Once he had secured his broom against the chimney, he laid beside her- "You are gonna have to stay close to me again, or I doubt I'll manage to extend the charm over you"

She nodded without complaint and cuddled onto his side. It took only a moment before she started to feel warm again, with her head resting on his shoulder as they both watched the light show.

The fireworks finally started to scarce and Harry shook her shoulder- "Hermione?"

She slowly pulled herself away from him and leaned over one of her arms, her body slightly resting on top of him- "Yes Harry?" -She spoke softly.

"Fireworks are almost over. Do you think we shou-"

But before he got a chance to finish, she couldn't resist it anymore and crashed her lips into his. She was finally letting herself go, allowing her body to take the lead without her brain getting in the way. Harry brought a hand to her cheek as a smile crept her way and she leaned into it. But before she could get lost in the feeling, she felt him gently pushing her away.

"Don't" -He said and looked to the side. She could see his face struggling in between pain and anger, and she could have sworn that the warming charm was increasing in strength- "Please don't. Don't do that if you are gonna walk away on me later. I don't think I could take it again" -A lone tear formed in the corner of his eye, before slowly treading its way down.

A sudden pang struck her chest. But she knew that it wasn't because of the rejection, this time she clearly knew what she felt. Regret. Facing him this way, she could no longer deny how much she had hurt him. That she hasn't been the only one to go back to feeling like an outcast. The fault had been only hers, and there was no way she could deny it. Now she knew how big she had fucked things up.

She cupped his face in her hand and softly pulled it her way- "Harry, look at me" -He didn't budge; Harry refused to look her way and it was enough to break the dam within herself. Tears started to flow down her cheeks- "Harry, look at me please. I never- I never meant to do that to you!"

She closed her eyes in a last attempt to restrain her eyes from crying, but it didn't help. The only thing she managed was for her tears to detach from her skin, landing on Harry's exposed neck.

That finally got Harry to look her way, tears welling in the corner of his eyes- "Then why? Why would you do that? Why did you kiss me if you were only going to push me away after that? And why did you even invite me over now? I know I said yes, but… but it's been troubling me all along. I don't get it Hermione! What do you want from me?!" -He demanded with his voice strained in grief.

"Because I was confused!" -She screamed punching his chest- "I was confused Harry, or don't you get it? I've always been like you! I've never had anyone beside my parents before Hogwarts, but then I met you. I met a complete stranger who was the first kid ever to sit down and talk with me, going as far as to stand by me on those very first moments when Ron and Malfoy started talking shit. And then… then you saved my life goddammit!"

She closed her eyes, pushing away her anguish and pounded him in the chest again, albeit without any strength behind it- "We had known each other for how long? It had been barely a month when you did that daredevil dive on your broom to catch me. A month later you risked your life facing a troll just to save me again. How do you think that made me feel?!"

"Huh?"

"Exactly! First kid to ever talk to me and you go on around pulling that shit for me! Alone all of my life only to be saved by your hero-complex. Of course I would fall for you! But- but I kissed you in the rush of the moment without even thinking about. And of course that at first light in the morning my fucking bookish-self had to act up and screw things over. I-"

"Hermione! What are you talking about?" -Harry demanded shaking her shoulders.

She looked at his eyes, his features completely blurred because of her tears- "Harry, I didn't lie to you!" -Her head slumped over- "I didn't lie to you… my mind was a complete mess after that and I didn't know anymore what was going on. My feelings were all fucked up; it was the first time ever after all. I- I thought it could really be that misattribution crap for real and I was afraid it would ruin our friendship in the long run. I figured that a couple of days on my own would help me understand but… but it never did. In fact it made it worst, because I would find you looking sad and it only served to add guilt into the mess of my emotions…"

"But… and… why did you invite me then?"

"Because I finally figured out that the only way to understand would be to go along with whatever this was, that it would become clear through experience… but by that time you were already arriving late for Minnie's tutoring and I figured it was already too late. But then… then mum insisted that I had to invite you and I guess that was the extra push I needed to come forward" -She said, finally looking up to him feeling like the dumbest-lovestruck-girl ever.

"So the past two weeks you've been trying to…?" -Harry tried to ask still confused.

Hermione shook her head as a smile crept her way despite her tears- "I still had no idea, but I was determined to not push you away and find out. I think I finally started to understand it after Tonks came for a visit. I had to ask mum actually, but she was spot on onto what had been happening"

"Uuhh…"

Hermione couldn't help but giggle- "I was jealous you dummy. You two get along fantastically well and a part of me wanted to keep you all for myself" -She spoke softly while closing her eyes- "But I… look I'll understand if it is too late or you just wanna be friends. I know after all that I'm no match for Tonks. Heck, I'm no match for most girls and I know I tend to be boss-" -But before she could say anything further, Harry silenced her with a soft warm kiss. She couldn't contain the smile forming in her face and almost cheered when she felt Harry's own.

As they continued to deepen their kiss Hermione straddled him without even knowing, completely lost in the moment. It was in that manner that they welcomed the early hours of what promised to be a bright new year for both of them.

* * *

 **This chapter has the Batata's seal of approval.**

* * *

 **A/N 01: This has officially turned into an angsty-teenage-girl novel (if I only knew wtf are those meant to be like, lol)**

 **A/N 02: I was going to name the Grangers as something more common, as Daniel and idk what for Emma… but I reconsidered when I matched the names to Hermione Granger. I mean… up to this day I can't say for sure if I pronounce Hermione's name correctly so I couldn't in good conscience give them common names. It didn't seem fitting if I'm being honest.**

 **A/N 03: I'm gonna request from all of you studs out there that you refrain from complaining about Harry not giving her the D right away.**


	12. 012 Savra

**A/N FAQ:**

 _ **I wanna thank my awesome brother for acting as my Alpha and my**_ **Batata** _**for proofreading part of my writing.**_

 **And I also want to thank every reader who takes that little extra time to review my fic. I really appreciate the feedback you provide.**

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 ** **.%%%****

* * *

 **The wandering path of a Battlemage**

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 **CHAPTER 012**

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08 Jan - Su

For the first time ever, Harry felt like a lucky guy. He was currently sharing a compartment on their way back to Hogwarts alone with Hermione. They have begun the trip along with Neville, but after sharing a few stories Hermione and him shared a few kisses: shortly after, Neville left the compartment saying something about looking for Oliver and Roger. If he was being honest, he couldn't have cared less at the moment. After an hour or so of good snogging, they had finally let go of each other and they were now pleasantly enjoying each other's company: Hermione reading a book with her head on his lap as absentmindedly watched the landscape.

"Harry?" -Hermione asked, getting a humming noise in response- "What did Dad wanted to talk about with you before we left?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just some last minute men-talk" -He lied

Truthfully, it hadn't been anything to scare him or of the sorts. Nope, not at all- just a friendly advice not to shatter his little princess' heart or there would be some further breaking to be considered.

He could see from the corner of his eye how Hermione narrowed her eyes at him- 'Guess she didn't buy it' -But as she didn't push on the subject, he shrugged his shoulders and let it be the end of that. Already on the subject, he couldn't avoid inquiring about a nagging sensation he had had over Dan during the holidays- "Hermione? I was meaning to ask you…"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Is your dad simply a dentist? I had this weird feeling whenever he observed me… as if he was grasping more of me than what one would expect. It kind of felt like Lorcan when he inspects our training"

"Nope, just his dental practice along with Mum" -She answered in an honest voice.

But he had noticed the slight tension in her shoulders when he asked, so he knew it was a blatant lie- 'Serves me right I guess' -He sighed and turned back to look out the window as she returned to her book.

The silence that descended between the two of them wasn't awkward in any sort; they have simply returned to bask in each other's presence. That allowed for Harry to pick on a repetitive series of noises coming from the corridor. It appeared to be a door being forcefully open, a name being called followed shortly after by a curse and the same door being banged shut. It wasn't until the source had reached the next compartment that he realized they were looking for him. He knew they were next he could only groan to it.

Before he could make up his mind whether he should block the doorway or just find out what was the entire ruckus about, the door was smashed open.

"Potter!" -Malfoy showed up on the doorway, he took a look inside and upon spotting him his face went from frustration to one of smug. Standing behind him were his usual two brutes; he seriously doubted the possibility of those two having the brains to ask for payment.

Hermione sat up straight, started by the disturbance as she has been too absorbed in her reading to be able to anticipate them. He could only curse the ponce even more as he already missed her warmth.

"What do you want jackass?"

That seemed to only turn his smug face into one of furious indignation- "I'm a Malfoy! So you will treat me with the respect I deserve from you, _half-blood_!"

Harry held Hermione's hand to prevent her from defending him. He had his fair share of encounters with bullies, and he knew it would help to get incensed over petty insults. The only way they would get a reaction from him would be if they tried to get physical. He didn't even deign him with an answer and simply raised a questioning eyebrow.

It worked nicely to rile him up, but instead of exploding as he had expected he walked inside with both brutes following suit before closing the door. Harry's body immediately tensed, getting ready to jump and try to fight them off: he would have to drag the fight away from Hermione. He was confident that the ponce would be no threat, but Harry was conscious of his limitations and he wouldn't be able to take on both brutes; not with his current level in WCC and even less in such an enclosed space.

However, the smug smile returned to Malfoy's face- "You WILL treat me with respect, or I'll make sure everyone gets to know of your little secret"

'Oh fuck, but what could the little shit really know?' -He decided to feign ignorance and snorted and said in a mocking tone- "And what would that secret be, oh your royal arse-ness?"

Malfoy's face went back to fury and to Harry's surprise he even managed to level his voice- "This is your last chance Potter, or everyone will learn that you _are_ Harry Potter"

He groaned internally and Hermione squeezed his hand, but decided to feign it a little more- "You know… it's funny that you bring that up, because I have the funny idea that I did present myself as such back at the feast"

"Cut the bullshit Potter, I know you are the Boy-Who-Lived. My father is part of the board of governors and he knows that it's really you"

This time he did groan out loud- "Fine. What do you want?" -Malfoy didn't respond and only raised an eyebrow. Harry cursed himself over the tables being turned- "What would you expect for your silence Mr. Malfoy?"

The blond ponce was back to his smug self- "We'll begin with you providing us every of our given assignments, but if-"

"Fine" -Harry cut across him- "But only yours, if I do theirs as well it will raise suspicion. I doubt anyone would believe that much of an improvement over the winter holidays"

Malfoy seemed caught off guard for a moment, clearly not having expected such an immediate affirmative response. He took a glance back towards both of his brutes before turning back to Harry- "Fine by me. But that will require future favours"

Harry thought over it for a brief moment before shrugging her shoulders- "Okay, but that's all you are gonna get for now. Now would you please get the fuck out?" -That seemed to irk Malfoy once again, but it was him who added with a smug smile- "Or would you rather take care of your own homework?"

Malfoy had to bit his tongue. He turned around without any further words and motioned for both of his goons to get going.

It was only after they had closed the door behind them that Hermione's head snapped to look at him questioningly- "Why did you agree to that? We cannot allow Malfoy to blackmail you, there has to be something we can do about it! We should bring this up to Minnie as soon as we arrive"

Harry simply pulled her into a hug without breaking his smile- "You do remember Minnie's words of wisdom over Snape's extra assignments, right?"

She broke herself away from him, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows- "Of course I do, but you wouldn't be learning anything new in this case. So what does it have to do with this?"

"Quite the opposite actually" -He answered with a grin. Upon the look of annoyance on her face she pulled her back into the hug and kissed the top of her head- "This time I would be actually helping the jackass to become dumber. He won't understand properly our classes because he won't be doing any research. Whereas all I have to do is a simple _gemino_ charm on each of my own; I could even add a few deliberate mistakes after doing so. And by the end of the term, his marks will have dropped and possibly end up failing a few exams"

Hermione snorted against his chest- "Only you could try to rationalize this in your favour"

"Oh! But that's not even the best part! We can only assume from the stick up his ass how much his family will care over his grades, and his father is mixed within the school to boot! So I can only imagine how very disappointed they will be, maybe even ashamed of him. I'm sure he would get a few _extra_ chores as punishment"

He didn't realize of his own slip until Hermione squeezed him tighter in their hug trying to offer comfort and he could only rub her back in appreciation.

"Oh Harry… I think its dumbest thing you could imagine for payback" -She said with a giggle- "But you are right about the fact that it won't prove any extra effort for you. If anything you'll get some extra practice on the _gemini_ charm"

He could only laugh over the fact that she was probably right. But instead of fret on it, he chose to gently pull her face up so he could kiss her and go back to enjoy the rest of their ride.

* * *

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15 Jan - Su

Their first week back to Hogwarts have been just as any other, except for the added bonus of his new closeness with Hermione. Minnie had been thrilled when she found out, but Harry was confident enough to say that it has been that way because she was now expecting to receive extra information on him as a Metamorphmagus. He would certainly have to talk with Hermione about some boundaries on that particular subject.

Dealing with Malfoy turned out to be just as he had suspected. The guy is total ponce who believes to be on top of the food chain, but in all honesty he doubted Malfoy would ever be able to prove his identity without Harry actually aiding to it. Giving him a copy of his finished homework didn't really mean anything to him as there was no extra effort, in fact he took joy in making some deliberate mistakes as he had told Hermione.

The only remarkable difference for their first week had been Hagrid, who had been excited yet fidgety for their whole class and kept stealing glances at his hut. There have been smoke coming out from his chimney at all hours but he seriously doubted the half-giant was concerned about something getting burnt. Harry was willing to put his gold in something else going on, which is why Hermione was coming along with him to pay a visit. Not that he was actually concerned about anything in particular, but he was feeling bored and had little else to do before his monthly meeting with Flitwick.

Harry and Hermione had barely made it outside the Entrance Hall when they came across a familiar face.

"Tonks!" -Harry called for her, nearly dragging Hermione behind him.

"Oh, hey lovebirds. What are the two of you - up to?" -She asked in between yawns.

"Wow. Why are you so tired? It ain't even noon yet!" -Harry exclaimed.

"Oh, it's just that - _yawn_ \- we had an early session of Quidditch practice, where our _beloved_ captain told me and O'Flaherty to do some sparring with the bludgers. The problem is - _yawn_ \- they forgot about us and we kept going all practice long. I'm completely knackered by now" -She said yawning one final time as she stretched her arms and back.

Harry snorted- "If you complain about that, I'd like to see how you end up after a WCC class with Lorcan"

Tonks stared at him and rose an eyebrow- "Harry, you do remember that I recommended you to take WCC, right?" -Harry nodded in acknowledgement- "Don't you think that I told you so because I already take his classes on a different schedule?"

Hermione bursted in giggles and jabbed Harry's ribs- "You dummy"

Harry muttered incomprehensibly before opting to change the subject- "Okay, but why don't you come with us? We're heading to pay a visit to Hagrid and I'm sure he would gladly brew some coffee for all three of us"

Tonks considered it for a moment before she sighed with slumped shoulders- "Fine… I'll tag along. I'd go to sleep otherwise and it might be too early for that"

"Yup, and you could always nap after lunch" -Said Harry as he started leading both girls to Hagrid's hut.

They had almost arrived when Tonks asked- "Why are you visiting him anyway?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly- "Meh, I was just bored and I thought we could drop by"

Tonks looked Hermione's way with a raised eyebrow and she answered the unspoken question- "He's certain that Hagrid's hiding something interesting and he's just dying to know what it is"

Tonks halted instantaneously- " _Interesting_ you said? You know what guys? I think I'll better go take that nap right about no-!" -But the last word was choked from her as Hermione dragged her by the collar while shaking her head.

"Oh there's no way you are leaving me on my own now. I'm most certain that you are right and I'm sure I could use your help beating some sense into those two"

"Hey!" -complained Harry. He turned around and for a moment he was on the verge of arguing against that, but after some thought he simply grumbled and kept going.

"Oh come on Hermy! We don't really need to babysit those two, do we? I mean… we're still on time to turn around" -Tonks offered hopefully.

"Actually, it's too late" -Hermione said nodding up ahead- "Hagrid has already seen us, _Nym_ " -She finished the last part with a glare, getting another in response from Tonks.

Hagrid was coming out of the woods with an armful of logs. What confirmed each and every one of their suspicious regarding the man was that when he spotted them he waved them a bit nervously, instead of his usual cheerful self- "Oh hey kids! What are ya all doin' 'round here?"

"Oh, not much. We just came to pay a visit to a friend" -Harry replied cheerfully- "Need a hand?" -But before Hagrid even consider refusing, Harry already picked a couple of logs and started walking towards the hut's door.

Without even asking, Harry pushed the door open and walked inside paying no mind to Hagrid's cries to halt. The huts inside felt like a sauna: steamy and impossibly hot. He couldn't comprehend why Hagrid would be bringing even more wood when he spotted the fireplace. He turned with a grin towards Hagrid, who had finally realized he wouldn't be able to hide it anymore and was walking inside with heavy steps behind both girls- "What's that above the fire?"

Hagrid closed the door and looked his way completely deflated- "It's just wha' I've always wished fo'. But I guess I won't be able to keep it after all"

Tonks and Hermione had reached the fire and were inspecting the thing when they heard Tonks' voice filled with dread- "Ha-Hagrid, is that what I think it is?"

"Aye, 'ts a dragons egg" -He answered before slumping in his couch.

"Hagrid! Wh-!"

"Hagrid! Wh-!"

But before any of the girls could finish their screams, Harry shoved them aside to look at the egg- "Sweeeet!" -He exclaimed completely marveled with the chance of meeting a dragon. The egg actually looked more like a rock that had been carved with scales. The only giveaway of its nature was its rich dark green colour reflecting from the fire, with small silvery cracks running along.

Before Harry could say anything further, Tonks yanked him away from the fire and Hermione proceeded to smack the back of his head.

Hagrid's booming laughter resonated inside the hut for the first time since their arrival, amused by their interactions- "Aye, most marvellous creatures. I had hoped to hide it deep in the forest after it hatch'd. But now that ya've seen it I won't be able to keep it"

Having recovered, Harry poked both girls on the ribs before they could utter a word- "And why not? It's not like we would rat you out"

Forgoing any further complaints, both girls turned to look at him disbelievingly.

"Ya serious?!" -Exclaimed Hagrid as he suddenly filled with hope.

"Of course we will. The girls and I would never be the cause they take it away" -Harry replied with a grin.

Tonks and Hermione looked at each other with eyes wide open. But before they could utter a word otherwise, the three of them were crushed in a massive hug from Hagrid as he lifted all three of them from the floor.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" –Said Hagrid in between sobs as he drowned them all in the mixed bush of his hair and beard.

 _Crack, crack._

"It's hatch-ing!" -Harry tried to exclaim through the ribs crushing hug.

Hagrid let go of them. With the help from some dragonhide gloves, he retrieved the egg from the fire to place it in a blanket on top of the table.

Crack

Harry watched in rapt attention how the shell ruptured and cracked, solely following the scales' unions. The small creature inside was eager to escape from its prison, energetically kicking and thrashing inside. One of upper scales came up flying, landing close enough to Harry's resting hands that he grabbed it without notice and completely ignoring its heat. Harry absentmindedly rubbed the scale, half of his brain wondering how something could feel so soft and yet is so hard at the same time. The other half was still fascinated by the hatchling slowly coming out.

After some more struggle the hatchling was finally free, having torn most of the egg into single scales now scattered all over. Harry was marveled by the dragonling beautiful colours; its back as well as most of its upper scales were a deep forest green whereas its underbelly's hide was that of a thick green leaf seen with the sun shining through. The dragonling puffed its chest, which started to glow in an ethereal green before letting go and a small jet of blue fire blew from its maw: heating his face and burning some of his stubble.

Harry chuckled, fascinated by it and he could tell that Hagrid shared his feelings if the aweing coming from him was anything to go by. He could also hear both girls squirming in surprise to the small burst of fire. Turning their way it became apparent that they weren't afraid, but merely cautious in their desire to fawn all over the dragonling.

"Ow!" -followed by a chuckle brought back Harry's attention to the table. The dragonling had snapped one of Hagrid's fingers with its maw, but due to both of their sizes it didn't seem to produce any harm- "Lil' one has a nasty bite. Don' believe it'll be half as funny once it grows its teeth"

Harry snorted- "Yeah, I won't argue with that. Buy maybe it's just hungry for now, don't you have anything we can offer?"

"Aye. There's some meat I've prepared. Be a lad and bring some, should be by the pantry"

Harry brought back a bowl filled with red meat chopped into small chunks- "Wanna try feeding it?" -he offered to the girls. Both had finally approached the dragonling and were caressing its back and wings as the little creature gave its complete focus to nibbling Hagrid's hand.

"No thanks, I doubt the little bugger is as inoffensive as Hagrid's making it look like" -answered Hermione.

Sharing Hermione's perspective Tonks shook her head and continued to play with its tail, which kept swinging one way and the other. Hagrid was too enraptured by the creature and remained oblivious to Harry's question.

That meant that to Harry's joy, he would get the honours of feeding the dragonling its first bite. He took the smallest piece available, unsure whether the little one would be able to handle the bigger chunks. He brought it to one side of its head and shook it slightly- "Hey" -He said trying to gain its attention.

Hagrid noticed his intention and pulled away his hand. This resulted in the dragonling bringing back its attention to its surroundings and immediately noticing the available food. With a quick turn of its head, it snapped the meat from Harry's fingers in one swift motion. He pulled back his hand in surprise- "Wow! Little thing has a fierce bite" -He said with mirth. He offered one of the larger chunks to see if it would be able to chew them, and to everyone's shock its maw snapped it in half without the slightest of efforts- "So… what are you gonna call it Hagrid?"

"I…" -He spoke sadly- "I had so lil' faith on keeping it that I didn' get to choose a name. I know-"

"Hagrid, forget it. We are NOT going to rat you out" -Harry sensed both girls gather some air to probably refute the idea, so he elbowed Hermione and stomped one of Tonks' feet before he offered- "In fact, we'll help you out. You can count on us for-" -He was cut short by Hermione's smack to his head.

"Now hold on a second" -Said Tonks irritably- "It's one thing that you promise to keep our mouth shut, but you are not dragging ME and Hermione into this mess" -She tried to appear imposing with her command, but all her efforts went down the drain when she failed to hold back her yawn any further.

"I agree with Tonks. You might convince us not to tell a soul, but you are not volunteering me for anything beyond that" -Hermione said with narrowed eyes.

"Fine" -Harry groaned before turning back to Hagrid- "All three of us will keep your secret and I'll even help you hide and raise it" -He dropped his voice to a stage whisper and added- "I bet I could convince them to do at least some research if there's anything we need"

"Fine" -Hermione grumbled- "But I'm only doing for the sake of knowledge" -She said raising her chin with a huff.

Harry turned towards Tonks, who simply shrugged- "That's fine by me. I actually think it's adorable and can't say I'm not intrigued. It's just that I don't want to be close to it _when_ it finally gets sufficiently annoyed at you" -She said with a devilish smile.

Harry chuckled and smiled at both of them before turning back to Hagrid- "Do you see? We got your back!"

Hagrid had a few tears of joy in his eye and with a voice emotionally broken he spoke- "Aye. Thank ya so much kids. It's been my lifelong dream to raise a dragon, but with my wand having been snapped so long ago no reserve would ever hire me. With all your help and raising it from a young one, I bet we could keep it 'round Hogwarts"

"Who knows? Maybe you will be able to convince the headmaster and Minnie to include it in some of your seventh year classes if we are lucky" -Harry offered, but feeling the terrified look coming from Hermione and Tonks choking- "But we might want to leave that for a much later date. Maybe you could try first when I finally reach NEWT level so you can count on some help from the other side"

"I think that would be a wonderful plan!" -Tonks exclaimed with a suspiciously big amount of excitement.

Hermione on the other side groaned in defeat and muttered as she rubbed her temple- "There's still a long time before that. Plenty of time to get out of this one"

Harry and Tonks laughed at that, but Hagrid's perplexed face was indicative that he hadn't been able to catch what Hermione said. Having regained their composure, Harry asked- "So? How about that name?"

Hagrid shook his bushy head with a wide a smile- "Nay. If we do t'is it'll be only thanks to ya. So I want ya to name it for me Harry"

Harry was momentarily taken aback by the offer, but unable to pass on such an opportunity he nodded with a grin plastered on his face- "How about…Savra?"

Harry analyzed each one of them trying to measure their reactions. Hagrid looked slightly confused about the name, but not enough to ask about it. Tonks seemed completely boggled at trying to figure out if the name could hold any meaning. Instead, Hermione was staring at the dragonling as if the answer would suddenly come to her.

After a few silent moments, Hermione turned to him and raised an eyebrow- "Did you pick that because of its greek meaning of lizard?" -Harry nodded with a grin- "Nevermind that the term wouldn't be proper… but where did you even learn that? I've only seen latin in all of our textbooks" -She asked with her head tilted sideways.

"Back at your place during the holidays I used one of your old books on greek mythology to train my Occlumency, because I knew I would be unfamiliar with most of it. Savra was actually written in one of your side notes"

Hermione sighed in exasperation and Hagrid chuckled at the situation.

Tonks was having a fit of giggles- "Oh how I wish he could understand and get mad at you for calling it a lizard"

"It's a she actually" -Hagrid corrected.

Tonks perked up in interest- "Aww… well look at that, we got ourselves a lady dragon! Do you know what kind of breed is it?"

Hagrid shook his head- "Too hard to tell with a hatchling. We'll have to wait for a year at least until it grows 'nough"

It was slightly past noon when all three of them decided to head back to the castle before lunchtime was over.

"Oi! Wait, I'd like the three of ya to have something" -Called Hagrid when they were reaching for the door.

"Hagrid, there's no need for it. Whatever you want to give us, you don't have to. We will be helping you out of our own desire, so you…" -Said Hermione only to trail off when she spotted Hagrid shaking his head as he approached them with something glowing green in his hands.

"Nay, ya'll three take this, four scales from the egg for each of ya. As you can see, they turn colour some time after hatching"

Tonks gave a low whistle and Harry could only agree with her appreciation. The stone-like scales that had once been a dark green had transformed into something completely unimaginable. They had now turned into translucent gemstones, the same shade of ethereal green that Savra produced in her chest whenever she was about to breath fire. The most captivating thing about them was not entirely its colour, but the fact that they maintained their perfect individual scale-like shapes; shapes that anyone capable of understanding the hardness of such gemstone would believe impossible of ever being crafted.

"They are beautiful" -Hermione finally broke the silence in barely a whisper, cupping in her hands all three dragon scale gemstones given by Hagrid.

"Exquisite" -murmured Tonks holding one of hers against the sunlight coming through one of the celing windows.

Harry flipped one into the air and he caught a glimpse of the fire shining through it. He couldn't help but beam at such beauty- "Truly dazzling. Hagrid, are you sure about this?"

"Aye, there are plenty more left from the egg. Though I'm afraid I'll have to sell most of them in the long run, can't expect it'll be cheap to raise Savra, particularly if I gotta keep quiet 'bout her"

After another round of goodbyes, thanks and promising again to come back and help with Savra the three of them left for lunch. They were reaching the Entrance Hall when Harry decided to put away his scales in his pockets, suddenly halting in stride.

"Umm… girls? I didn't mean to and ended up forgetting all about it, but…" -He said holding out his hand, with five scales instead of the four given by Hagrid- "I took one when they started flying around as Savra was hatching" -He explained with eyes closed and rubbing the back of his head. Harry braced himself for screams, a reprimand and maybe even a rant in indignation on the possibility of having taken it on purpose, but instead all he got was silence. He opened his eyes to find both of them blushing and looking at their feet. He was perplexed for a moment until he took notice of their offered hands, holding five scales each. He could only snort to try and stifle the bark of laughter bubbling inside.

It took him barely a moment to regain composure before shaking his head- "I guess we can give the spare back some time later, I doubt he'll need to sell all of them right away"

This got both girls to look startled at each other.

"But Hagrid said he had too many" -said Tonks.

"And they are so beautiful" -added Hermione.

Both girls turned his way with puppy dog eyes and he couldn't do anything but chuckle with a grin at that- "Alright, I don't see why not. Heck, I'll even give all five of them back if he ever needs the gold for Savra"

* * *

%%%

15 Mar - We

Harry had enjoyed a good fresh year so far. He was dating Hermione and he couldn't feel happier about it. Others may perceive her as a bookish bushy-haired girl, who enjoyed too much being the teacher's pet and rejoiced in correcting others' mistakes. But he knew better than that. She had a fiery passion for learning; born from darker days and one he would never hold against her. Her ease of understanding complicated subjects along with her newly discovered skill in Occlumency only served to boost that aspect; and being favoured by professors was nothing more than the just reward for her efforts. Hermione enjoyed going the extra mile in helping others, even when they dared to look upon her with disdain. In that regard, Harry was truly glad that none of the ravens would ever dismiss help in their studies and they were some of the few who were actually grateful for it. But it was her hair that Harry cherished the most. He couldn't help but smile whenever he caught a glimpse of her untamed golden curls from the corner of his eye; always bouncing around, trailing behind in her pursuit for knowledge. It was also that little detail that proved that beyond all of her academic perfection she was still human. A slight imperfection that actually made her perfection all the more perfect: and ultimately proved he could forever seek to hold a place by her side, even if he sometimes felt overshadowed.

A few months back, Hagrid had been in dire need of keeping Savra's roars muted from anyone in the castle; as she was still too young to be left on her own anywhere deeper into the forest. It was Hermione who had turned Tonks' wishful thinking into reality: designing a ward capable of acting as a sound barrier. With a lot of research, some help of his own and a few more practical aids from Tonks they finally accomplished it by the end of the same week. In all honesty, they had simply broken apart a few sample wards from books and reconstructed them to their own needs. But Harry felt it had been a true feat for them, given that only Tonks had had her introductory course on Runes and didn't choose to later enroll in it.

As for Savra herself… Harry couldn't be more excited about it. The dragonling was growing in leaps and bounds, despite being nothing but a baby; a baby with claws, fangs and capable of breathing fire. Regardless of that, Harry insisted to both girls that Savra was no more of a danger than Kuro; and he would be more afraid of angering Hedwig at any given moment than fearing Savra or Kuro's retaliation.

But the thing that brought Harry's joy at that very moment was a lot simpler than any of that. They were in their second period of Transfiguration with the lions when they had finally reached his goal on the subject. At long last they were going to learn the Draconifors Spell.

Harry got it down barely thirty minutes into the class, with Hermione following suit shortly after and Neville able to turn his inkpot into a winged lizard within the hour. It hadn't become apparent until then how realistic were Hermione's and his dragon compared to most of the class. Harry could almost praise himself over the fact that his was only a few shades off from Savra's true colours, whereas Hermione's was a monochromatic dark green.

"This thing looks so wrong" -Complained Neville- "It almost looks like a snake with legs and wings. How come you two got them to look so good and so fast? They almost look as twin hatchlings"

Hermione coughed nervously as Harry rubbed the back of his head- "Can't say for sure Nev. I guess we've read the same book at some point and we are building it up from there"

Neville sighed in defeat- "Then I guess I'll have to do some research on dragons. Do you remember which book did you actually use? Yours are pretty neat after all"

"Uhh… I think it was actually a fantasy book back at Hermione's place, but it's drawings were so realistic that it could have been written by a wizard" -Lied Harry- "But I'm sure we can get a few decent ones in the library"

"Actually" -Said Hermione as she rummaged through her backpack- "I have a good one right here"

Neville took the offered book and stared at it for a moment- "Hermione… why are you carrying around a book on dragons? I mean… I know Harry has been studying them because he really likes them, but I never expected such a thing from you"

Hermione's eyes went wide for a moment- "Uhm… because I figured we would be learning Draconifors today so I did some research in advance" -She blurted the lie, almost making it sound like a question.

Neville hummed as he seemed to think about it, so Harry decided to provide a distraction- "Hey Nev, what do you say if we make Weasley look good amongst his fellow lions for once?"

Neville made a grimace- "Don't you think it would be way too obvious this time? I doubt he'll be able to pull the focus and sufficient knowledge over dragons for one or two more classes"

"Nah, I've overheard him bragging about his brother working for a dragon reserve so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for him to know a thing or two about them"

"I think you are overestimating him" -Muttered Hermione gaining quiet bouts of laughter from both guys.

It took them more than a few moments to regain their senses and get their game face in place- "Alright Nev, you are up. You could actually seize the chance for once and ask her for recommendations on books about dragons, instead of blabber some random excuse"

"Har-dy-har-har" -Neville faked a laugh- "But I guess you are right, this time I could get an extra something out of all this"

Once Harry was certain that Neville had garnered Minnie's attention, he turned towards Weasley and waited for the perfect moment. Timing his spell with Ron's was a tricky thing. It was quite common for the redhead to get distracted by something that Boot said while in the middle of his casting, which usually resulted in some funny outcomes to the ceiling or the blackboards up front.

'Alright, Boot's distracted while checking some notes. This is it Ron, don't mess it up' -Thought Harry.

Ron began his sloppy wand waving and Harry followed right behind with the proper ones. A final flick of Ron's wand and his spell connected with block of wood he had been using. The wood started to twist and turn. But before it could settle into whatever deformity the redhead had cocked up, Harry's own spell landed on its target. More twists and turns followed, but this time they came along with changes in colour and texture. He had made the extra effort of picturing Savra in the red and gold worn by the lions and he could only call it a success as that was what he roughly achieved.

Ron's block of wood ceased to exist. It had been completely replaced by small model of Savra in a dark red backside with a yellow underbelly. The modeled dragonling squeaked a mighty roar of victory and freedom, before trampling all over the lions table and everything on it. The small thing raced to one end of the table garnering as much speed as it could before taking the leap and stretching its wings in an attempt to soar up into the air.

The thing is that their transfigurations were far from being perfect. With Harry's current expertise, whatever transfiguration spell he managed to cast could be compared to the animation of a toy. So far, what their spells were actually doing was change one shape into another and sometimes even give it a life of sorts. But the insides of whatever they had used as target didn't actually change, that meant that the dragonling was still made out of wood. And a block of hard-wood like the one Ron had been using wasn't very fit for flying.

That meant that instead of the dragon model taking flight, it ended up crashing against Lavender Brown who was sitting in the next table. The little blighter ended up all tangled up in the long hair of the squealing blond. Most of the class burst in laughter as the dragonling started spitting fire; fire not hot enough to singe her hair but warm enough to puff her hair into a new afro look.

A quick tandem of spellwork coming from Minnie finished the transformation and vanished the block of wood. Finally released from its attacker, Lavender rose from her chair with a fuming fury already set in shredding apart one Ronald Weasley. But before she could throttle and strangle the redhead, Minnie cleared her throat gaining everyone's attention. She was standing still at the front of the classroom, calm as if nothing had gone wrong. She raised a single eyebrow in Lavender's direction, stern enough to force the girl to control her fury until the next break at the very least. But what really gave Harry a cold sweat was that she was clutching Neville's shoulder, preventing him from getting away as he have clearly tried if his panicked face was anything to go by.

"Excellent work Mr. Weasley, but I'd advise you to exercise better control of its spirit the next time" -Said Minnie, clearly looking at Harry instead of Ron- "Our aim in this class is to make the transfigurations puppets to our will, because allowing them to gain their more natural instincts can carry unexpected and sometimes undesired outcomes"

She paused to look around the classroom driving the point home, before landing her eyes on Ron- "Regardless of that, we are all here to learn and improve. Take 10 points for Gryffindor for being the first amongst your house to accomplish a realistic and quite beautiful model, even if it was a rogue one. Now please, carry on with your respective practice"

Minnie leaned over to Neville and spoke a few words that seemed to startle him before letting go of his shoulder. Neville stiffly walked their way and took back his seat- "Minnie says we have to stay after class. She wants to have a word with all three of us"

"What?!" -Hermione hissed, nearly crashing Harry's jewels as she leaned over him trying to reach Neville- "Why did you drag _me_ into this?! I've got nothing to do with it"

"I know, I know! But I swear I didn't say anything, she must have assumed you were part of it since you share the table with us" -Neville nearly squirmed in place.

"Fine" -She huffed- "But the two you better make sure not to bring me down with this"

Harry chuckled and rubbed her back with a smile- "Yes dear, don't worry about that"

It was almost an hour later that everyone had left the classroom on their way to lunch.

"Minnie, why did you ask for me?" -Hermione asked right away.

Minerva raised an eyebrow to such a blunt approach but failed to suppress her smile of amusement- "I rather like how you've become more straightforward in Harry's company, but I'm afraid that you are not quite innocent as you may believe"

"But she hasn't done anything" -Harry reasoned tilting his head- "Neville has always been the decoy as I provide some friendly and remote assistance"

Minerva shook her head and sighed- "And that's precisely it; she was well aware of what you two were doing and did nothing to correct it"

Harry looked at Hermione shrugged his shoulders; he couldn't see a way out for her now. Hermione seemed to deflate slightly; all three of them knew they wouldn't be winning any arguments against such accusation.

"A-are we going to get detentions?" -Stammered Neville.

Minerva hummed as she made a show of considering the situation- "No, not really"

"What!?" -Exclaimed Hermione. Harry elbowed her and made a pointed look that it would be stupid to try and argue against that.

Minerva chuckled- "No, but I will ask all of you to not assist young Weasley for the rest of the year" -She gauged their perplexed expressions and decided to explain things further- "I can imagine how many of my ravens felt utterly frustrated over the slow pace we've carried in class. But as you have intuited, I couldn't possibly continue into the next spell if there was still a student who couldn't cast the current spell at least once; at least not as long as it was so blatantly obvious. It was for the sake of the many that I have allowed your little ploy to ramp freely, but I'm afraid it will have to end today"

Hermione groaned- "But… but… it would take a month for each spell if we rely on Weasley! I'm quite certain that he never practiced a single spell outside the classroom"

"And from what I've heard from Fillius, I can't disagree" -She raised a hand to quiet any further complaints- "But as of today, we've completed the first year syllabus and I'd like to spend the rest of the term helping the slower students to catch up and polish their skills. I do _not_ expect my ravens to sit on their asses and twiddle their fingers in the meantime. In fact, I propose you spend our classes reading the materials for the upcoming years"

Harry was about to volunteer to have free periods instead, but Hermione beat him to it- "That would be fantastic! What do you propose we focus on?"

Minerva smiled at her enthusiasm despite having noticed the reluctant faces on both boys- "I'd advise you start reading on the Vanishing Spell. If any of you go as far as to have a proper understanding and ability to cast it, you may carry on and read on Conjuring Spells. I'm afraid I can't allow any of you to go any further than that, as Switching Spells and Free Transfiguration can prove to be tricky. Sometimes they may even carry some nasty consequences if performed without supervision"

"Yay!" -Hermione jumped in excitement

"Yayy…" -Harry and Neville faked their cheers.

Minerva chuckled- "I'd like to pass this along to the rest of the ravens and I'd like you to include Dean Thomas, Fay Dunbar and Jane Runcorn in this little project. Mind you that any and all of you are welcome to join the rest and review what we've seen so far"

"Not to be rude, but aside from Draconifors I have little interest in what we've seen so far. I'd rather practice them whenever I may need them and get ahead on the Vanishing Spell for now" -Said Harry rubbing his neck with a strained grin.

Minerva nodded- "I can't argue with that feeling, because it holds a hidden truth. Most of the fixed transfiguration spells as well as the switching spells are nothing more than a way of training and honing your skills before you are able to confront the art of Free Transfiguration. If you have to ask, conjuration spells do provide some aid in that sense but they are still useful on their own and a handy tool for whenever one is in need"

The three of them nodded, acknowledging the wisdom of her words, without having any reasons to argue against them.

Minerva broke the comfortable silence- "Alright you three, go have lunch. And remember to spread the word on this to those I have mentioned"

"Any idea how to explain how this came up?" -Neville asked nervously

Minerva snorted- "Oh please, it's not as if nobody knew. I'm sure most of them took notice of your little assistance more than once and many were actually grateful for it. Think of it as an open secret and don't even worry about explaining the reasons behind this" -She said with a smile- "Now off you go"

* * *

%%%

17 Mar - Fr

Neville trotted up ahead with Oliver and Roger as Harry and Hermione leisurely made their way to lunch holding hands.

"I can't fuck believe this!" -Harry complained- "This stuttering idiot says that we've covered the syllabus and we'll be reviewing for the rest of the term… but the only relatively useful thing we've learnt so far is how to cast a smokescreen! And they deem to call this _Defence_ Against the Dark Arts?!"

"Shh Harry, somebody is gonna hear you" -Hermione giggled- "We've learned some other useful stuff, like how to heal a werewolf bite"

"Yeah, _heal_ … you do remember that you only prevent the hemorrhage, right? You still get to be a fucking furry for the rest of your life"

"Okay, but what about…"

"Admit it, we've only learnt _lumos_ and the smokescreen as remotely useful spells. Everything else was pointless stuff like red sparks, green sparks. _Argh!_ Why do we even bother to learn different spells for different colours?! According to what we've learnt from Magical Theory we could accomplish the same thing with a little more of concentration" -Harry grumbled.

"POTTER!"

They heard someone calling angrily from behind before Hermione could say anything else. She pinched his hand, clearly dreading the possibility of having been overheard by a professor or a prefect.

Upon turning around they only found the snakes, slowly leaving the DADA classroom they have just been sharing. Harry soon realized it has been Malfoy who called him; he wasn't particularly eager to deal with the ponce. Harry forced himself to drown the amusement assaulting him over the possibility that the blond had finally realized he have been deliberately providing him with either incomplete or not entirely correct homework.

"Yes Draco?" -Harry asked keeping his calm

The arrogant bastard proved to be on his short fuse for today- "I've told you to address me with the respect I deserve or else"

Harry sighed- "Fine. Good afternoon Heir Malfoy" -He turned towards Crabbe and Goyle and offered a nod each- "Stooge one and two. So, let's cut to the chase… we've got no pending homework, so what do you want?"

Hermione elbowed him and spoke with fake concern- "Behave Harry"

That only managed to infuriate Malfoy even further, but he gritted his teeth and decided to proceed- "It's about Quidditch and our coming match next month, which you will deliberately lose. You'll drop the quaffle or let it slip as many times as you can get your hands on it, or you know what's coming next" -He said, doing his best to appear as commanding as he could.

"Oh my…" –He snorted- "Don't tell me the pit of snakes is actually afraid of losing… Are you afraid that since we beat them without catching the snitch and later crushed the lions… are you afraid you won't be able to win against the badgers? You did tie against the lions and I gotta say that Diggory is one hell of a seeker. I wouldn't actually bet on our esteemed _Heir_ Malfoy to actually beat him" -He taunted before turning to Hermione- "Tell me dear, do you remember how the scores are coming up so far?"

"If I remember correctly… badgers are coming last with two points, snakes are tied next with the lions on five points each and we ravens have the lead with six. I believe it's been a nice turnaround from the Autumn Season" -She said with a smile kissing his cheek- "And I gotta say that we do appear to have the best reserve lineup"

Harry relished in infuriating Malfoy ever since he had chosen to blackmail him- "But say Draco… don't you think you are being too greedy? I'm not sure whether I'll give in to throwing the match _and_ doing your homework"

For the first time, Draco's face went from ire to one of smugness- "Oh don't worry about that Potter. Your essays are rather lame. I can only guess that you've landed amongst the ravens because you don't know anything about loyalty or being brave; and let's not even say about being cunning or of the right sort to be a true Slytherin" -Hermione had to hold him back so he wouldn't throttle Malfoy and he seemed to have noticed as his smirk only grew- "Say Potter, why don't you swear on your magic that you'll throw the game and I promise I won't spill the beans on your little… fame"

Harry squeezed Hermione's hand to let her know that he had calmed down and snorted at Malfoy- "Better yet, why don't you swear on your magic to never speak of it again and I promise to make your homework 'till we graduate and throw every match we ever play against each other"

Malfoy narrowed his eyes in disgust- "Fat chance of that"

"Oh come on Draco, don't be like that! Or did you just remember how magical vows actually work?" -Harry asked with a smirk- 'This damned arse probably hoped that I didn't know magical vows are non-conditional'

"Heed my advice _Potter_ ; you'll keep that homework coming AND throw that match or you'll face dire reality. And I doubt anyone will be pleased of hearing you've been lying to all of their faces on who you are" -He turned towards Crabbe and Goyle- "Let's go down for lunch, I'm done with this scum"

Hermione had to grab hold of Harry again as Malfoy shoved his shoulder on their way off.

"Harry, calm down. You know he ain't worth it" -Hermione soothed him- "What are you gonna do about all this?"

"It's time I end this. But I'll keep feeding him with mediocre essays for now"

"Huh? Why even bother?"

"Because that way he'll believe he's got me by the nuts and won't see it coming when I give my everything in our match" -He explained- "I just hope Cedric actually manages to win the game for them, so those snakes will be in dire need of winning against us" -He said with a devilish grin.

Hermione giggled and shook her head- "Only you could take this rivalry and game so serious" -She gave him a soft sweet peck on the lips to ease his nerves- "Come, let's get some quick lunch so we can head to the library before Mythical Studies with Angela. I want to see if there are any better books on DADA for first years"

Harry smiled at that- "Aww, you spoil me"

"I'm not doing this to feed your warmongering boyish cravings" -She said with feigned indignation- "I actually want to see what useful things we could have actually learned"

Harry beamed at that and squeezed her in a hug- "You are the best, you know that right?"

Hermione huffed- "Of course I am! Now let's go, I'm hungry and you need enough time to gobble down your three meals"

* * *

%%%

16 Apr - Su

The badgers won their last two games, humiliating the snakes last month and outplaying the lions on the previous weekend. That resulted in the snakes and lions tying on five points whereas the badgers tied the ravens with six points each. Thus the snakes were desperate for winning the match or they wouldn't be taking the cup; any other way the championship would be for the ravens.

Tracey scored another 5 points through the Quidditch hoops. On his way back to their defensive positions, Harry flew past Malfoy and he couldn't help feeling smug for having outplayed him. Malfoy became furious as soon as he realized that Harry wouldn't be throwing the game; going as far as to approach him in the middle of the game to reassure that his threats were serious. Harry had simply flipped the bird at him before proceeding to score once more along Tracey Davis and Roger Davies.

Harry being a natural flyer, the ravens' basic strategy consisted in him acquiring or outright stealing the quaffle before taking the other team for a ride. He would twist and turn all over the pit, evading bludgers and spiraling from one place to the other; forcing at least two of the other chasers to come after him. It didn't take that long actually; he just needed to distract everyone long enough for either Tracey or Roger to fly close to the hoops before receiving his pass and scoring. A couple of times, the snakes as well as the other two teams had tried to keep their marks instead of undertaking his wild goose chase. But without the extra pressure, it usually meant he would be able to race to the hoops and score if he managed to fool the keeper.

It didn't mean that Harry was gullible enough to believe he owned the game, in fact he knew he was far from that. It was obvious that Susan Bones was one hell of a keeper, probably even better than Page; the team's main keeper. She seemed to be well aware of her surroundings at all times and her reflexes were sharp enough to react on time to most feints and tactics. Jason and Duncan were proficient enough beaters, not as good as the Weasley Twins or Tonks but definitely good enough to provide some cover or space and time when needed to maneuver. And they were all confident to say that Cho Chang was one of the best seekers, only second to Cedric; Harry couldn't argue against that despite his beliefs that the girl could be a total bitch.

Harry was undertaking a wide turn around the enemy hoops when he spotted Tracey: furtively making her approach from below. He glanced back making sure Flint and Zabini wouldn't have enough time to switch their marks, when his senses flared with something about to go completely wrong. Before he could even comprehend it, his Nimbus was torn forward from his hands and he started to plummet to the ground. Harry started to flail his arms in complete panic as he fell describing an arc. From the height and speed at which he had been flying, he could only hope to end up unconscious or he would be in for a world of pain. That is, if he actually survived the landing.

He closed his eyes and screamed, bracing himself for the crash. But instead, he felt as if his arm was pulled out of his socket. He tentatively opened one eye only to realize he was flying backwards and gently slowing down as he approached the ground.

"Potter! What the hell do you think you are doing?!"

Harry looked up and felt a wave of relief. Tracey had miraculously caught his wrist, saving him from crashing to the ground- "Thanks!"

"Take hold of the fucking broom before I strain a muscle!" -She grumbled- "You are too heavy for me!"

Harry startled and grabbed the broom with both of his hands. Still hanging there as they she guided her descent, he noticed her pained face as she held her arm towards her chest- 'Guess I already did' -He thought.

His eyes momentarily fixed in an alluring view. Snapping out of it, he quickly looked away blushing with embarrassment- 'Better not look there or she'll drop me from higher up'

Tracey finally lowered him to the ground, before coming to rest by his side, still rubbing her arm.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"I don't know… I felt something was wrong and before I knew it my broom snapped free of my hands" -He said rubbing his wrists, sore from supporting his whole weight.

Harry looked up and realized Roger had called for a time out. Everyone was watching them as Madam Hooch approached the two of them- "Potter, are you hurt? Can you carry on or you want to switch?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Tracey got me right in time"

"Right. Might wanna keep a better hold of your broom next time. That would have been a nasty crash if Ms. Davis didn't catch you" -Hooch said handing over his broom.

"Yeah, real lucky" -He grumbled.

"Alright. Three minutes left of your time-out, hurry up" -Said Hooch before flying off to the middle of the pitch

Harry turned towards Tracey, only to find her staring at him with a raised eyebrow- "What?"

"Didn't you say that you felt something off before it all happened? Why didn't you tell her? It could have been foul play Harry"

Harry shrugged his shoulders- "You heard her, they all thought I fucked up. It's not like I could prove it was somebody else's doing"

Tracey shook her head- "Fine, but be careful. It wouldn't be the first time that the snakes employ some nasty tricks"

Harry considered her words and searched the sky for Malfoy- "Well look at that… the bloody ponce is feeling all smug and cocky. I guess Tracey might be right after all"

Harry rejoined the game keeping his guard up for the next couple of plays. But once everything had resumed, Malfoy went back to fuming whenever they scored without any other suspicious behaviour. It wasn't long before Harry decided it have been his own mind playing tricks, regardless of how strange it had felt.

Having been blocked by a bludger, Harry watched with irritation how Flint zoomed unobstructed towards their hoops. The other snake's beater was currently assaulting Susan with a bludger, so Harry have little hope in regards to the impending score. But against all odds, Susan managed to barely receive a glancing blow from the bludger zoomed to defend the upper hoop: where Flint was heading to. Flint shot a scoring quaffle; one that Susan had no chance of catching as she had too much speed to actually hover in front of the hoop. The girl seemed to be quite aware of it, as Harry realized that wasn't her intention. Instead, she sped towards to one side of the hoops ring and grabbing tightly to its rim, she used it as her pivotal point in a sharp turn. She came out shooting from the hoop and keeping the momentum of her turn, she batted away the offending quaffle with the bristles of her broom.

Harry watched in amazement her whole play and how the quaffle shot high and far, directly in direction of the snakes' hoops. He immediately recognized the opportunity as most were still gawking, trying to reconcile with what had happened.

He knew he wouldn't reach on time, so he decided to fly lower. He finally caught the quaffle not so far from the ground and immediately aimed upwards, towards the hoops. The snakes' keeper had left his position wide open and wouldn't have enough time to turn back and defend. Harry just had to get close enough to shoot and he would score the easiest points of the entire match.

He was only a few feet away from his optimum shooting distance when that foreboding feeling returned. His broom suddenly went still, hovering in place. But the issue was that Harry didn't, he had too much inertia for it and sped past his broom. Not letting go of his grip fast enough, which caused him to be thrown into a series of front-flips. On the second spin, as he was looking upwards, he realized he was still in direct collision with the hoops. He let go of the quaffle and braced his head for impact. He didn't know which body-parts would be smashing against the pole first, but he was certain that it was going to be painful. He heard the buzzing sound of a quaffle going through the hoop, before something cracked and he knew no more.

* * *

%%%

Consciousness flooded back. Harry groaned in pain when he took his next breath.

"Harry!"

Somebody crushed him into the most painful hug he had ever had.

"OWW! No no no, get off! Off!" -He cried. He opened one eye only to find Hermione taking a step back and covering her mouth.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry" -She spoke in quick succession.

He stared at the ceiling for a moment collecting his memories, remembering how he had ended up there. He brought a hand to his torso and inspected the bandages wrapping most of his chest. They felt warm and tight against his skin, constraining him and sending small jolts of pain whenever he took a deep breath. He had no doubts that Poppy had bandaged him for a good reason.

He finally let go a shallow breath, afraid of straining his back again- "It's fine. Doesn't hurt if I don't move much" -He turned towards her narrowed his eyes- "And as long as no one crushes me, that is"

Hermione startled, probably afraid of having really angered him. He snorted and started to laugh as he leaned his head back- "Oh, don't worry dear" -He said with a smile and holding out a hand to her.

Hermione narrowed her eyes and muttered- "Prat" -But took his offered hand and approached. She rubbed his shoulder, gently enough to not cause any pain- "How are you feeling?"

Harry tilted his head towards her and raised an eyebrow- "Really?" -She pinched his shoulder in response- "Okay, yes. Aside from whatever I've broken, I'm pretty much fine"

"Oh yes, nothing but three broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder" -He heard a mocking voice coming from the office at the back of the infirmary- "Why even bother about being careful when there's Poppy to put me back together"

"But it wasn't my fault! Somebody was cursing my broom!" -He complained to the nurse who narrowed her eyes.

"Of course they did. And yet you managed to make an impossible shot" -Said a mocking voice from his other side.

He turned his head to find Susan in the bed next to his with her arm on a sling.

"Precisely" -Commented Poppy and he could hear Hermione giggle by his side.

Harry decided to leave that discussion for later and asked Susan- "What happened to you?"

"Oh not much. Ms. Bones over here simply dislocated her shoulder and pulled most of the muscles in her arm with that little daredevil maneuver of hers" -Poppy provided in a clipped tone, clearly annoyed by their _recklessness_. Susan grinned at that.

"It was quite the move, to be honest" -Harry commented.

"Thanks! Yours was quite impressive as well" -Susan replied gleefully.

"Yeah…" -Harry sighed, realizing it would be harder than he had expected to drive through that it hadn't been his intention to leave his broom behind- "So… did we win?"

"It's not over yet" -Answered Hermione- "You two were brought here immediately and I came right away. Couldn't care less about the match after seeing you fall like that"

Harry offered her a loving smile and rubbed her hand: Hermione leaned over and gave him a peck on his lips. Poppy cleared her throat and raised a disapproving eyebrow: Harry offered an apologetic smile in return.

"Have I not been sufficiently clear regarding the rules in my infirmary?" -Harry energetically nodded- " _Good_. Now drink this two vials, they will aid the rest of your healing and numb the pain"

Harry drowned both vials and sighed in relief as the painkiller potion worked its magic- "That's way better. Thanks Poppy"

"Now, you should stay for the night to secure a full recovery in no time. But I know how hard that would be for you given the game results, so I'll let you off for now on the condition you'll come back for a check-up on no more than two days" -Poppy instructed in a stern voice.

"What do you mean by results?" -Harry asked bewildered- "Hermione just said-"

"Yes, but that was when we left and I've just received an update saying that the match has ended without any other major injuries"

"And!?" -Harry –

"Did we win?!" -Susan said overlapping each other.

Poppy showed an amused smile, savouring their expectant faces- "Congratulations, you won the cup"

Harry wanted to jump in joy, but he managed to refrain from due to the pain in his back. Susan had no such restraints, as she bounced over Harry pulling Hermione into a group hug- "We won! We won! We-"

"Ms. Bones!" -Barked Poppy- "Let go of Mr. Potter and quit jumping around. Do I need to remind you both of your injuries? If you two won't take care of your own bodies, I'm afraid I'll have to chain you up to a bed until you make a full recovery"

"Sorry!" -Yelped Susan taking a quick step back, eyes open like saucers- "I'm sorry Harry! I was so excited over-!"

"Relax Susan" -Harry calmed her by holding her by the wrist- "The painkiller potion is already kicking in so I can't really feel much pain. But I have no desires of spending the night in here, so we better listen to Poppy"

"For your sakes, I hope you actually mean those words" -Poppy watched the three of them with suspicious eyes- "I would hate having to re-align your bones because you didn't heed my warning on proper rest"

Harry could have sworn he had seen a glimpse of a devilish smile momentarily cross Poppy's face. He shook his head trying to clear his mind; certain than his concussion might have been nastier than he previously believed.

"Don't worry Poppy, I'll make sure the two of them don't strain themselves" -Offered Hermione.

"Thank you dear. Now, if you two are feeling better, you may leave at your own discretion. I've done everything I can and I cannot emphasize enough your need for rest. I'll be in my office, call if you need anything"

As soon as he heard Poppy's door close, he sighed and said a bit too casual- "I'm gonna kill Malfoy"

"What?!" -Exclaimed Susan

"Harry!" -Hermione chided him- "I know he is far from… exemplary, but why now?"

"Bloody ponce was feeling too smug after the first time" -He explained through gritted teeth- "I'm sure he had something to do with that"

Hermione scoffed- "Really? Same dumbass who's been forcing you to make his homework? You say he has the ability to curse your broom without anyone seeing him even pulling out his wand?" -She asked disbelievingly.

Harry scratched his head- "Okay, I get your point but I still believe he was somehow involved" -Harry looked at Hermione raising an eyebrow at him with crossed arms- "Fine, I won't do anything unless I can find some kind of proof"

"Good, I'm glad you came to your senses regardless of how much I hate the guy"

"Umm…" -Hummed Susan after a moment of silence- "Why were you doing his homework?"

'Shit' -Harry cursed inwardly- "He was threatening me over something… not that I actually cared but I thought I could give him a couple of wrong answers instead. That was before he said he wanted me to throw today's match"

"What?! Harry, how could you-"

"Hey!" -He exclaimed with narrowed eyes- "I didn't do it, did I?"

Susan looked mortified- "Sorry, you are right… but why? What does he have on you? Aren't you afraid he'll come through?"

Harry snorted- "I'd like to see him try, not that anyone would believe it anyway" - 'Dammit, shouldn't have said that' - "But I did have some fun out giving him false hopes before we trashed those snakes, am I right?" -He said holding up a hand for her to high-five.

She cheered with him, but without letting go of his hand as she offered a sweet smile- "And may I know what dirty little secret he had on you?"

Harry was momentarily perplexed, before answering with a grin- "Not a chance"

Susan huffed and crossed her arms- "Fine, I'm sure I'll find out eventually" -She looked his way with a devious smile- "After all… all I have to do is keep one eye open for any unbelievable gossip on you"

"Please don't" -He said dejectedly, before turning towards Hermione in a conspiratorial whisper- "I guess that at long last we got ourselves a guinea pig for that memory charm"

Hermione laughed at that- "That we did" -She said looking at Susan with a devilish grin despite the pinch of his hand to show she actually disapproved the idea.

"You know my aunt is head of the DMLE, right?" -She grunted- "But fine, I won't pry on it if you really don't want me to"

"I'm glad we got ourselves a deal" -Harry said in a cheerful tone. Making use of Hermione's shoulder for support, he climbed off the bed and pulled his jersey back on- "Now let's get out of here before they start the party without the three of us"

Hermione sneaked an arm around his waist- "Nuh-uh. You need to get your proper rest or you'll be complaining all day long as soon as those potions wear off"

"Party pooper" -He grumbled only to receive a pinch on his arm. He kissed her cheek- "Don't worry; I know you do it because you care for me"

"Aww, so sweet!" -Susan commented with a giggle before merrily adding- "But don't you dare believe you won't owe me for my silence"

"Fuck" -Grumbled Harry.

* * *

 **.%%%**

* * *

 **A/N 01: So there's this one guest who pointed out that Harry's reaction back in ch6 was a bit too cartoonish and not really human-like, specially for an abused child. I'm not gonna lie, I totally did destroy his every argument on my mind (because you can't really expect me to answer an anonymous). But instead of that, I'm gonna fess up and say that I may have watched one too many animes and I still crack up whenever I watch the old looney toons. I'm telling you all this because it apparently leaks into my writing regardless of how much I want to keep things 'realistic'. Sometimes it gets too boring for me to keep it that way and I slip, but I doubt I'll be putting any effort in correcting that: at least until everything becomes spicy enough to keep me hooked on the writing. [FYI, it's that guest who forgot his password back in '08. lmao]**

 **DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its universe belong to JK Rowling or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just fool around with its universe and characters.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Angela and its universe (Inheritance Cycle) belong to Christopher Paolini or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Lorcan, Rowan and its universe (Throne of Glass series) belong to Sarah J. Maas or whichever company really has its rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**


	13. 013 House Trials

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and its universe belong to JK Rowling or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just fool around with its universe and characters.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Angela and its universe (Inheritance Cycle) belong to Christopher Paolini or whichever company really has its legal rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Lorcan, Rowan and its universe (Throne of Glass series) belong to Sarah J. Maas or whichever company really has its rights. I just make a minor use of it for fooling around.**

 **A/N 11/04: Don't worry... just some minor fixes.**

 **I wanna thank my awesome brother for acting as my Alpha and my Batata for proofreading part of my writing.**

 **And I also want to thank every reader who takes that little extra time to review my fic. I really appreciate the feedback you provide.**

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 **.%%%**

* * *

 **The wandering path of a Battlemage**

 **############**

 **CHAPTER 013**

 **############**

 **11 Jun - Su**

Exams were finally over. But unlike the rest of the students at Hogwarts, Harry was anything but thrilled about returning home.

He had finally found somewhere where he belonged. He found a surrogate family amongst Minnie and his housemates. In fact, he has actually found family in Tonks if one didn't care about the countless relatives' in-between. But most importantly, Harry found someone to whom he belonged; someone who hopefully felt the same way as he did. Hermione.

But now everything was about to come to an end. A supposedly temporary one, but Harry had learnt long ago that it was unwise to assume much from them. Anything could happen in three months. Anything could go wrong.

He dreaded the very thought of going back to the Dursleys.

"Harry?" -Hermione interrupted his brooding- "Are you still worried about your final exam results?"

He snorted pulling her into a much needed hug- "Not a chance. Only you are still worrying about that; and I can't even figure out why"

Hermione squeezed him a little tighter- "Then is it… is it because we are all going ho– all leaving on Sunday?"

He sighed and squeezed her back- "Yeah… I wish I could just stay, even if I do so alone. I know how much you miss them, your parents; and I'd never ask you to forsake them. But…"

"You'd rather not go back there" -She spoke softly nuzzling into the crook of his neck- "I still can't believe that Minnie couldn't find a way to take you away from those… people. And I can't even figure out why! I mean… there has to be some law we could use to protect you from them"

Harry didn't say anything. He had little hope of finding a loophole he could exploit. Even less so if Minnie, the raven's head of house, wasn't able to find one herself.

Minutes ticked by in silence as Harry drew as much comfort as he could from her arms and company. He sighed.

"I should feel insulted that you are feeling restless despite my presence" -Hermione teased him- "Do you wanna do something?"

Harry gave her a crooked smile- "Yeah, but I don't know exactly what"

"How about we–"

"No Hermione, we're not going to spend our last weekend hiding in the library" -He groaned while rolling his eyes.

"I wasn't…!" -She huffed crossing her arms- "Okay maybe, but–"

Harry didn't do anything but give her a sidelong look. He laughed- "Of course you weren't"

"What would you propose instead?" -She asked with a raised eyebrow- "And you better not say flying. Because no matter how much I may have improved, I'm still not comfortable with it and quite far from being capable of keeping up with you"

He shook his head- "Nah… despite how much I love it, I wanted to do something worth remembering. Besides, I could always just go and fly around before breakfast if I really wanted to"

Hermione narrowed her eyes looking at him- "Harry, I already told you that I'm not gonna help you get back to Malfoy. Unless you can finally prove to me that he was the one behind your broom acting funny"

"But…!"

"Nah-uh. Even if he did try to expose you, any retaliation against that would only serve to prove him right and then everyone will finally believe it" -She argued before turning into a plea- "Please Harry. We've been through this already and every single time you've agreed with me! You know it's not worth it"

Harry grumbled- "Fine… but I still believe that asshole deserves it… even if he truly had nothing to do with my broom"

Hermione sighed leaning against him- "You are most probably right. But we are not becoming some sort of vigilantes, so just let it be and let the faculty handle whatever he's been up to lately"

Harry rested his head in the sofa's back and enjoyed their time together, cuddling in a corner from the ravens' common room. He had his legs propped up in a coffee table and it wasn't long before he started a restless twitching.

"That bored, are you?" -Asked Neville with a chuckle as he approached their corner.

"Yeah..." -Said Harry without bothering to look up.

"How about some flying?"

"Not a chance" -Hermione declared curtly

"Hagrid?"

"Can't. Hagrid's busy with Sa- some creature of his, appears the poor thing has some sort of magical flu" -Answered Harry

Neville screwed his face in consternation- "Can't imagine what sort of creature could get a flu and let's not even talk about one that needs constant attention" -Neville snorted- "I can almost imagine Hagrid wrapping one of his famous hippogriffs into a blanket and cuddling it into sleep"

Harry chortled and he could feel Hermione trying to hide her knowing smile- 'Oh Nev… if only you knew. Savra is anything but being spoiled right now'

"So…" -Drawled Neville- "If you are that bored and everything else is out… why don't you follow on the Twins' tale of the trials?" -He said mockingly.

Harry opened his mouth to answer that but held his tongue. With a frown in place, he considered the idea. He finally looked up at Neville with a grin, who immediately started paling- "That might actually be a good idea"

"What?!" -Exclaimed Hermione pulling away from him- "Are you nuts?! That's way out of our league and I wouldn't know how to even consider about getting past Fluffy"

"I don't believe it for a second" -Harry said defiantly- "There's no way you would have forgotten when Hagrid slipped that you can lullaby Fluffy with almost any music"

Hermione snorted- "Okay, fine. But you still don't know how to play any instrument and I haven't heard of any spell capable of doing so"

"Oh, but we have something much better than that. Am I right Nev?" -Harry said his way with a devilish grin.

Neville paled at that- "Ha- Harry… I'm not that good with my cello yet and that's not to say anything about that damned dog! How would you even expect me to concentrate enough when we are facing certain death?"

"Actually, you wouldn't be in any danger" -Harry said nonchalantly only to be stared as if he had lost his mind. He sighed in fake exasperation- "I'm being serious now, honestly. I went back there another time and while I was looking around, I realized that Fluffy can't go through the door. They must have done some transfiguration to get him in… anyway, as long as we don't do any we'll be safe from across the door 'till you put it to sleep"

Hermione was about to argue but stopped herself to consider it- "Okay, seems reasonable. But what were you doing back there?"

"It's quite a long story, but I'll tell you about it if you two come with me"

"Fine, but I'm not walking into that room until we're completely certain that the bloody thing is sound asleep" -Said Neville with slumped shoulders.

"And I'm not letting you out of my sight or you'll end up doing something stupid. This way, I can always knock you out and drag us out of there before you do" -Added Hermione giving him a peck on the lips.

"Alright! Let's go find out what's all the fuss about" –cheered Harry.

* * *

%%%

"You know, that was a low move. It was a shitty story and one I already knew about" -Said Neville as they approached the forbidden south wing on the third floor.

"Don't care. I just needed you to come along" -Answered Harry.

"Arse" -Said Neville receiving a grin in response.

"And I can't believe that you of all people were so bummed down about the two of us falling apart" -Said Hermione pulling him into a hug and giving him a searing kiss. When she pulled apart, she commented in almost a whisper- "Can't believe I was being so stupid about us; stupid enough to push you away. I should have felt lucky instead"

Harry shook his head- "I'm the lucky one. Not you, you actually got stuck with my craziness" -He said pulling her closer and deepening their kiss as her cheeks tensed in a smile.

"Oh come on! Get a room you two!" -Neville complained- "It's either that or my cello and I, are going back to the tower"

Harry pulled away from Hermione with a smile- "Alright rockstar. Let's get this show on the road"

They opened the door and realized that Fluffy was already aware of their presence. The cerberus laid resting on the other side of the room attentively staring at them with all three of its heads while growling menacingly deep. It didn't attack though, clearly aware that it couldn't reach them on the other side of the door.

"I still believe that this is crazy and I'm not entirely sure whether I want it to work or not" -Said Neville trying not to shake in place out of fear- "I mean… we are calling this off if music doesn't work, right?"

"Relax Nev, everything is gonna be alright" -Said Harry patting him on the back- "But yeah… there's no way we are going in there unless it falls asleep"

"Thank Merlin… okay, here goes nothing"

Neville took a sit in the chair they had borrowed from a forgotten classroom and set his cello in place. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in concentration, before he started to play what turned out to be Stairway to Heaven.

Harry pulled Hermione closer in a sidelong embrace as they both listened in rapt attention to their friend play- 'He's always acting all nervous and humble, but he sure knows how to play the damn thing'

They both quietly enjoyed the piece in silence, forgetting completely why they were there in the first place. When Neville was finally done, he opened his eyes to find them staring at him; which caused him to blush.

"Well? Did it work?" -Asked Neville as they blocked his view of the room. Harry and Hermione snapped out of their trance and turned to look inside. The cerberus looked irritated if anything.

"It appears that you only angered it" -Said Harry in a vain attempt to sound optimistic.

"Good riddance, we can get out of here" -Answered Neville all but jumping to his feet.

"Wait, hold on a second" -Said Hermione- "Isn't the song you've played Stairway to Heaven?"

"Yeah, why?" -Said Neville with a face of confusion.

"Well… you know that the cerberus mythos says it's the guardian from the hell, right?" -Hermione said gaining a nod of confirmation from Neville despite his reigning confusion- "Okay, so if we take music as another form of magic as the more bohemic consider, we can only assume that a song would have an essence of sorts. Taking that into consideration, Stairway to Heaven could be seen as a Light song; one that would clash against a Dark creature from hell, don't you think?"

"Sweetie, you are a true genius! You know that, right?" -Harry said with a beaming smile as he tightened his embrace of her.

"Dammit Hermione!" -Grumbled Neville- "I thought you were like me on this and you only reluctantly agreed to Harry's insanity"

"Well, yeah but… I've got to say that I'm rather curious about this theory" -She said before turning into a murmur- "And I may be rather curious after all of what awaits below the trap door"

"Okay, fine! But I don't really know-" -Said Neville before being interrupted by Hermione.

"And I mean… considering that we are at Hogwarts and if we give any credit to the rumors… Imagine what we could find at the end of all of it! I mean, it would only be proper for it to be a real trove of knowledge! Maybe long lost books on who knows what! And let's not even consider the experience and wisdom we could squeeze from the trials themselves. Can you im- Hey!" -Hermione finally complained when she realized that both of them were quietly laughing at her.

"Sorry, it's just that" -Harry snorted- "It's just that I've been wondering how come I convinced you so easily to tag along, but now I completely understand" -He said kissing her cheek in a final attempt to subside his laughter.

Soon enough, Neville managed to pull himself back together after letting go of a deep breath- "Alright, I guess we are really doing this after all. And I think I might just have what we need"

Neville took back his sit and with his cello in place he began to play a new tune.

Hermione snorted- "Highway to Hell… yeah, that should do the trick"

Harry and Hermione once more enjoyed the show, but it wasn't long before a damp wind coming from behind started to tousle her hair. Turning around, they found all three heads soundly asleep. Harry couldn't help but smile at the sleeping beast.

Once he was done with the song, Neville spoke a bit too loudly- "Hey! It actually worked!"

Hermione immediately shushed him and whispered- "You'll wake him up"

"Sorry" -Neville

Harry quietly trod into the room, directly towards the trap door while keeping an eye on Fluffy, ready to bolt in case it started to stir awake- 'Sleeping like a log, just like Hagrid said he would'

Harry turned his attention back to the trap door as Hermione and Neville quietly approached him. Making quiet movements, he whispered- "Wingardium leviosa" -Magically pulling from the handle, he opened the trapdoor.

They all tried to peer inside, but the bottom was pitch black, completely shrouded in darkness. Harry noticed Hermione beginning an incantation but held her hand. He nodded towards Fluffy and whispered- "No lights, I prefer whatever is down there than facing Fluffy from up this close. Let's just jump and cast arresto before we hit the ground" -Thankfully, it was one of the few spells taught by Hooch, so they all knew it.

Without waiting for confirmation, Harry jump inside- "Arresto momentum" -He spoke loudly as he fell, decelerating before finally landing without more speed than a regular hop.

Knowing that they would be following soon, he moved aside.

"Arresto momentum!" -Shouted Hermione before landing beside him.

The floor was completely dark, unable to see anything of significance even if down there. He decided to cast some light.

"Arresto momentum!" -Screamed Neville

"Lumos maxima" -Said Harry

Neville hit the ground with a distinct sound of cracking- "Ouch! Goddammit Harry, couldn't you wait a mere moment to summon that light? I lost focus and- Oh no..."

"Sorry about that Nev, you are right. But what's wrong?" -Said Harry

"My- my- my father's wand is broken" -Said Neville with tearful eyes as he lay kneeling on the ground looking at his wand- "I tried to brace myself from falling with my face and I ended up snapping it"

Harry winced with guilt- "Shiiit… look I'm really sorry Nev, I was just trying to figure out where we landed. Do you reckon that Mr. Ollivander or somebody can repair it?"

"No, it's impossible as far as I know… Gran is gonna kill me when she finds out" -Said Neville dejectedly.

"Uh, guys? I don't wanna be insensitive but… what the hell is that?" -Hermione interrupted.

Harry took stock of their surroundings for the first time since he lighted up the place. The walls were made of stone just like in the dungeons; looking up he realized that they had fallen about fifty feet from the trap door. And scattered everywhere across the vast room were thorny thick vines. Looking at the floor he realized that they were standing on loose earth instead of stone. Having one of those vines lying close by his foot, Harry kicked it and jerked back when it started moving of its own accord.

"Woah! What the fuck is that?" -Exclaimed Harry.

"Harry, why did you have to kick that thing?" -Asked Hermione with a feeling of dread

"I- I- I don't know! I'm sorry! Got any idea of what that might be?"

"No… Nothing we've seen this year and nothing in the second year's course book. Nev?"

"What?" -He asked still afflicted over his broken wand.

"You are the best at Herbology from the three of us, any idea what this plant might be?" -Asked Hermione with growing worry before turning into a plea- "Please tell me it's not as bad as it seems!"

Neville finally looked up from his wand and startled jumping into his feet- "Holly fuck! Harry, look at where you got us! And why is it moving? Did any of you touch it already?"

"Uhm… yeah. Is it bad?" -Asked Harry

"Fuck! This bastard is NEWT level and one that Sprout keeps under the locked greenhouses!"

"Okay, but how bad?" -Asked Hermione

"Carnivore bad" -Answered Neville causing Harry and Hermione to stand still- "It reacts to contact, so don't touch it no matter what!"

"Any idea how we can get rid of it?" -Asked Harry.

"Yeah, ice. But it's not that effective anyway, so really do NOT touch it anymore"

"Shit" -Cursed Harry.

"Do you reckon the freezing spell would work?" -Asked Hermione.

"Why? Do you fancy a cold drink about now?" -Tried to joke Harry to ease their nerves.

"No, dummy. I know you've only used it for that, but remember that Flitwick says that it depends on your intent and power behind it" -Replied Hermione while pinching his arm.

"I- I don't know. But I guess that it's our best choice since we don't know any better" –Provided Neville

"What about fire? Or brute force?" -Asked Harry, watching intently as the vines slowly slithered around them.

"Don't you dare to use fire; it will only make it grow wilder. And I doubt we've got the power for the other unless we make it brittle with cold first"

"Gotcha, only glacius then. Do you guys see any way out of here?" -Harry

"There" -Said Neville pointing to the door opposite from him- "Let's get out of here before it slithers our way"

"Right. Sweetie, take the lead. Nev, you go in between since you don't have a wand" -Harry

"Aww, my knight in shining armor" -Hermione scoffed.

"This way if you get caught I can immediately help. Otherwise I'd have to turn and go around Nev before I can come to your rescue" -Harry replied in a deadpan voice.

"Okay, I'll let it slide this time" -She said squeezing his hand once before taking the lead.

"Remember, nice and easy; without touching any of it" -Said Neville.

Treading slowly and with utmost care, the three of them made it to the door in a single line. More than once Harry was forced to reconsider where to step as vines slithered right under his foot.

Hermione bid her time to open the door, careful not to touch any vines while doing so. But with her attention elsewhere, when she pulled her elbow back she unintentionally touched a vine cascading from the wall.

Hermione screamed in pain as the thorns buried in her off-hand arm.

With the door already wide open, Harry shoved Neville across the doorway- "Go! Get out!" -He turned towards Hermione and grabbed her other arm. He pointed at the offending vine- "Glacius!" -He pushed as much magic and concentration into the spell as he could, picturing the vine encased in ice. Once he deemed it frozen enough to become fragile, Harry opted for the severing charm- "Diffindo" -The chilled vine allowed for the physical damage to permeate, cutting Hermione free from it.

Harry quickly pulled Hermione into himself before any other vine could take hold of her and quickly pushed both of them out of the room. As soon as they were on the other side, Neville slammed the door shut.

"Are you alright?" -Harry asked Hermione filled with worry, as he carefully untangled the vine from her arm.

"I- I can't feel my fingers!" -Hermione screamed as she descended into panic and started to cry- "Harry, I can't feel them. It's gotta be poison"

"Relax! Both of you relax" -Said Neville shaking them by the shoulder- "It's just a mild paralytic that it has on its thorns. It'll fade away quickly as the true strength of the Razor Vine lies in its' resistance to anything but frost"

"Are you sure?" -Demanded Harry.

"Yes, I'm certain of it. I couldn't remember all of it at first, but it came back to me when I saw one of its flowers back there"

Having freed her from the vine on her arm, Harry pulled Hermione into a hug and sighed in mild relief before soothing her- "It's okay, it's okay now. Nothing but a scare, let's just wait it out and you'll get your hand back"

Harry stroked the back of her head as she sobbed against his chest. After some further reassurances, Hermione hummed and nodded against his chest as she started to pull herself back together.

"Is that blood?" -Suddenly asked Neville

"Well, of course it is! What the hell did you think that bloody plant was going to do? Give us a kiss?" -Harry asked harshly.

"No dumbass, I meant over there on the wall" -Replied Neville pointing up ahead.

Harry finally took stock of his surroundings, realizing that they were in a hallway that probably connected consecutive trials. He finally spotted what Neville was referring to: a smear of blood along the wall, blood from someone who probably had made it this far before, but not without harm.

"Whoever it was, it must have been someone older" -Reasoned Harry

"Huh? Why?" -Asked Neville

"First of all, there's no year below us" -He teased.

"Oh, really?" -Neville bantered back- "No wonder you've made it to the top 5 in our year then"

Harry laughed at that- "Okay, okay. From the pattern I can only imagine that whoever it was, got hurt on the shoulder and then dragged themself along the wall to the other side. But I'd say that the blood trail is too high for anyone below third year, as I haven't seen anyone remarkably tall"

"Hmm, I guess you are right. I hope that whoever it was has made it out just fine, because that blood looks rather old" -Neville.

Hermione pulled away from Harry to look around.

"Are you alright?" -Asked Harry.

"Yes, the numbness in my arm is already fading" -She answered rubbing her hand- "But don't you think it's strange that we haven't heard any rumours on how to get past Fluffy or about the vine itself if somebody has made it out already?"

"Yeah" -Answered Harry with a feeling of trepidation- "But we better think of it that they just decided to keep quiet to not get in trouble. I wouldn't like to consider our odds otherwise"

"Agreed" -Neville.

"Let's get out of here already, please?" -Pleaded Hermione as she grabbed tightly Harry's hand.

"We'll have to go forward then" -Said Harry pulling her closer- "There wasn't any other way out from the vines but the trapdoor and this corridor. So I can only hope we find an exit before this gets too tough for the three of us"

"Really? Before this becomes too much for us?" -She said pinching his arm- "We're lucky that Nev is such a nerd over Herbology, because otherwise we would be getting shredded by that vine as he said it was NEWT level!"

"Hey! I know we're all afraid but don't take it out on me! You were also intrigued by what we could find down here" -Harry chastised her.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him in one of her usual bouts of stubbornness.

"Guys, please" -Neville intervened- "We can point fingers once we are out of here, but let's focus for now"

"He's right" -Said Harry and kissing her cheek trying to mellow her out. Hermione feigned to remain annoyed, but he could tell that it was just as an act because she had leaned into the kiss. Harry could only smile at her antics, considering it another of those traits that made her so fun to be with- "Let's keep going"

They reached the next room and carefully opened the door, bracing themselves for whatever danger may come next. They were confused to find an empty room. Or at least they thought it was empty till they looked up, searching for the source of a flutter of wings.

"Are those… keys?" -Asked Neville.

"Yeah, it looks like they are" -Answered Harry- "But how the hell are we gonna find the right one?"

"Hey! That's cheating!" -Exclaimed Hermione drawing bewildered looks from both boys. She pointed to the other side of the room, where the door had apparently once stood- "Someone didn't want to complete the task and blasted the door open!"

Harry snorted- "Well… I guess it can't be cheating since there are no explicit rules as far as we know"

"Besides, we get to skip it as well" -Neville cheerfully remarked.

Hermione huffed- "Yeah, I know but it's just that… Argh, nevermind. At least we were freed from flying and chasing down who knows how many keys before we got the right one"

"If there even was one" -Commented Harry as they walked across the room

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" -Asked Neville

"There are no rules, so maybe the real challenge was thinking outside the box and find an alternative way through" -Explained Harry nodding towards the wreckage of the door- "Which turned out to be an evident success"

They made it across a new hallway before opening a door into the next room. This one was filled with broken statues made of black or white marble. Everything was scattered into pieces across the room, with evident marks of explosive and other brute force spells all over the place. It took them a few moments to notice the checkered floor.

"Is this… a giant set of chess?" -Asked Harry.

"Yeah… it looks that way" -Agreed Neville

Hermione scoffed- "Do you believe that this was meant for some further out of the box approach?"

"Okay, okay. You were right and somebody cheated" -Harry chuckled- "But I wonder who could have done this? I mean… they were packing some serious power to leave such a wreck behind"

"Yeah, but hopefully they kept this up and we'll be able to get out of here in no time" -Said Hermione.

They made through another hallway and into another room. This one had a table with a bunch of different phials and a line of magical fire that divided the room, with the exit doorway on the opposite side.

Harry whistled- "I wonder what this was supposed to be. But whoever our benefactor was, clearly worked around the problem by collapsing that section of ceiling into the fire to act as a bridge"

Hermione walked towards the table- "I guess the challenge here was to identify the proper potions. Some of them certainly look poisonous, so I can only assume that one of them was meant to put out the fire or allow you to cross it"

"Do you reckon you would have been able to tell?" -Harry inquired.

"No… I mean I could discard a few, but it would have been a risk to pick from amongst the rest without any further clues" -She answered

"Oh come on you two" -Called Neville already at the next hallway- "There's no need to understand it. Besides, that room gives me the creeps and I can't figure out why"

Harry grumbled and said- "Probably because it's about potions so it has to have been set by Snape"

Hermione rubbed his back- "Yes it probably was. But at least you already got your chance to prove yourself in his final exam. There's no way he can deduct you points with the potion that you brewed, even mine would be hard pressed when compared to yours"

"Yeah, I guess Minnie was right that all those extra assignments would give me an edge. Buy that still doesn't mean that I enjoyed it"

"I know you didn't. But it did help you become the best in our class and I've noticed that it's gotten on his nerves not just once" -She said giving him a peck on the cheek- "Now let's go"

They both made it into the next hallway right on time to witness Neville slamming the next door shut and leaning against it with a pale face. They rushed towards him as Neville slided to sit on the floor completely trembling.

"What? What is in there?" -Asked Harry as he kneeled beside him and slightly shook him by the shoulder.

"It's a- it's a-" -Neville stammered

"Nev, you've got to calm down! Take deep breaths, come on" -With Hermione's urging, Neville managed to somewhat ease his nerves- "Now try and tell us what you did see in there"

Neville looked up at her with eyes wide open- "Troll. There's a troll in there"

Hermione gasped in shock before jumping back to her feet and retreating from the door. Harry went after her, taking her into his arms and rubbing her back and shoulders to offer comfort.

"Was it awake?" -Asked Harry

"What?" -Neville

"Neville, the troll. Was the troll awake?"

"Ye- yeah. Why do you ask? You are not actually considering fighting it, are you?" -Said Neville.

"No, it's just that… I mean, it didn't come knocking on our door after you slammed it and I can't help but wonder why"

"I- I believe it's because it was busy eating" -Offered Neville

"That's great! Then we just have to wait for the next time they come to feed it! We'll wait around and get out with whomever comes" -Exclaimed Harry.

Neville shook his head- "No Harry, you don't understand"

"What? Why?" -Harry

"I doubt his diet includes school robes" -Whispered Neville

Harry paled at that and Hermione trembled in his embrace. Silence reigned for a while before Harry spoke again- "Fuck"

"Yeah…" -Mumbled Neville.

"We- we have double back" -Spoke Hermione with a broken voice- "There has to be another way out, perhaps even a hidden door… Harry, we can't go through that room!" -She wept before starting to sob again.

Harry rocked them both, hugging her tightly trying to soothe her fears as well as trying to ease his own- "Don't worry, we won't be facing the troll. In fact, you and Nev will go back and double check the other rooms"

Hermione startled at that- "What are you planning? What are you gonna do?!"

Harry rubbed away the tears from her cheek and offered a reassuring smile- "I'll just keep watch over here. I wouldn't want the troll to end up coming after us without us even knowing"

Hermione seemed to doubt his reasons- "You promise you won't do anything stupid?"

Harry nodded before kissing her on the lips- "And you have to promise you two won't be going into the Razor Vine's room without me"

"We won't, I promise" -She said before leaning forward to kiss him even longer.

They parted their kiss but remained in place, their foreheads touching as both drew strength from each other. Hermione sighed once she was sufficiently calmed down.

"Alright, you two better go so we can leave this place" -Said Harry- "And remember that you've only got one wand"

Neville sighed in frustration as he stood back up- "Yeah… please don't remind me of that. It only serves to make me wonder how pissed Gran is going to be"

Hermione squeezed Harry's hand once more before letting go- "Harry, why don't you at least double check the fire room and will begin from the one with the keys?"

"Yeah, sure. It won't be a problem as I'll still be able to keep an eye on the next one"

"Good" -She said giving him a final peck on the lips- "Let's go Nev"

Once they had cleared the fire room, Harry sighed in frustration- "This better works or I'll have to risk luring it into the fire or the vines and hope one of those actually work"

He knew he had little choice in how to proceed and not for the first time he was thankful for Flitwick's monthly tutoring. He pulled a box of matches from inside his robes and mentally went over one of the many hypothetical plans they had discussed.

One of the many consequences from the troll incident had been the two of them reviewing how he had handled the situation. That was immediately followed by a discussion in other possible methods to deal with such a threat, which eventually evolved into a game of sorts. A game in which Harry would try to devise other possible means to subdue a troll or similar creature, ranging from mere confinement to more lethal options.

There was one particular combination he liked, which had been inspired by Hagrid's crossbow and praised by Flitwick for the simplicity of the required spells. It consisted in transfiguring a match into a needle, enlarging said needle and banishing it into the intended target. With sufficient marksmanship, it was capable of incapacitating the target or even land a killing blow if required. The two major drawbacks were that he has been carrying a box of matches everywhere and the banishing needed some extra juice for it to be effective against some creatures with a thicker hide, such as the impending troll.

Harry pulled out five matches, transfigured each into a needle and enlarged them to the size of a bolt. He knew he wouldn't have enough magic to banish with sufficient power more than five bolt-needles, so he didn't bother with more ammunition. If he failed, fire or vines would have to do.

Harry took a deep breath, trying to muster what little courage he could. His hands eased the trembling, but he couldn't get them to completely stop: he could only hope not to miss because of it. Despite of that, his resolve was strong and he wouldn't allow himself to fail. One way or another, Harry would take down that blasted troll. Hopefully before Hermione or Neville knew what was going on.

He slowly opened the door leading to the next room, careful of not making any noise that would draw unwanted attention. His breath choked on the back of his throat as the stench of the room assaulted him. It wasn't just the putrid smell characteristic of trolls, but also the smell of rotten flesh. Harry tried to hastily cast a bubble-head charm on himself and failed every time, the spell being too advanced for him under such a stressful situation.

Accepting the fact that he would just have to endure the stench, he pushed the door open the rest of the way. It was a cavernous circular room, damp and barely lit by a few torches. The place was bigger than any other rooms in the castle, second in size only to the Great Hall.

To his right, he noticed a makeshift bed of straws scattered over the ground, filthy with grime and certainly old straw. A crunching sound caught his attention and he finally spotted the troll in the far side of the room. The creature was crouched over some black and red cloth, it took him a moment to realise that it probably was the corpse of the student Neville referred to. Harry had to cover his mouth and fight back the rising bile; despite being forewarned he was still unprepared for the sight.

'Calm down, you've only got one chance' -He thought swallowing back his own bile.

Deciding to act before he could lose his nerve, Harry whispered the levitation charm and floated one of the bolt-needles in front of him.

"Depulso" -He said under his breath and the bolt-needle shot forward.

He poured enough magic into the spell to guarantee a piercing blow, but his aimed proved to be off and the bolt-needle embedded on the wall past the troll.

'Shit!' -He cursed himself within his mind, not daring to utter a word.

The troll grunted and looked up from its meal, staring at the offending bolt-needle in confusion.

Harry harnessed the momentary confusion of the creature to try and focus himself- "Come on, I've got to actually hit it for this to work. Depulso" -He muttered to himself.

The bolt-needle flew true to its target and with sufficient strength to pierce the troll's hide. It roared loudly, but it was a roar of anger rather than pain. The troll turned around as it pulled free the bolt-needle from its shoulder. Finally spotting Harry, it threw aside the bolt-needle and roared in defiance.

Harry could hear Hermione crying his name back in the Keys' Room. He immediately realized that he would have to hit a vital point if he was to have any hope at taking it down before things got really complicated. He prepared his third shot and hastily cried the spell- "Depulso!"

His shot went straight for the troll's heart, but in his carelessness the bolt-needle flew spinning sideways instead of a straight line. It hit the troll with one of its flat sides.

"For fucks sake!" -Harry cursed loudly as the troll finally charged at him with heavy steps. It was sheer luck that the room was big enough to prevent the troll from immediately trampling him all over despite its increasing speed.

Adrenaline was coursing hard through his body and it was only due to his Occlumency and Quidditch experience that he managed to keep a modicum amount of his focus. Harry took one breath, focused his eyes in the troll's center of the chest without straying his mind away from the spell- "Depulso" -He spoke loud and clear.

The shot was true to its target. But the troll didn't fall; it merely staggered in its charge. Harry reasoned that the shot didn't make enough damage to its heart or that the heart itself was somewhere else; he had never bothered to study a troll's anatomy after all.

On a second thought, he realized that at least he had managed to slow down its run. The downside was that the troll now looked even angrier than before, if that was even possible at all.

'Okay, last round. If I cannot pierce your heart, then I'll better pierce your thick skull' -Harry thought in a rush. Seeing how fast the troll still was, he knew that his chances of luring it into the wall of fire or the Razor Vine were less than slim- 'I'll have to make this count'

"Come and get me, you ugly bastard!" -Harry screamed in challenge.

The troll let out a mighty roar in response and tried to double up on its charge, somewhat hindered due to the bolt-needle still in his chest.

Reality seemed to slow down as Harry prepared his attack. With a flick of his wand, the bolt-needle hovered in place ready to be banished. The troll was fast approaching and he wouldn't stand a chance if he missed the shot. He gritted his teeth in anticipation, tightening the grip on his wand and pooled his magic within his body for that extra oomph.

The troll was ten feet away when Harry knew it was time.

"DEPULSO!" -He shouted a top of his lungs.

His aim was true and the bolt-needle shot right through its open maw. Blood sprayed everywhere due to the sheer force of the shot and for barely a moment, Harry was able to see all the way to the far wall through the troll's skull.

The troll came crashing down with its next step, forcing Harry to jump back to avoid being crushed. He stared in astonishment at the corpse of the troll, as blood poured from his first shot as brain and other innards hung from the hole in the back of its skull.

He had bested the creature. He had survived. Harry burst into deliriant laughter. A short-lived one at that, because some of the sprayed blood found its way to his open mouth and its putrid taste was enough to crash him back into reality. He turned around to the back wall, throwing up as he supported himself with both hands on the wall.

"Harry!" -He could hear Hermione calling his name from the Fire Room- "Oh my god! Harry! What the hell happened!?"

"It's nothing" -He tried to dismiss the experience, but a sidelong look to the fallen troll made him wretch again.

"What the fuck!? By Merlin's beard!" -Exclaimed Neville- "This mess surely don't look like nothing"

"What happened? Why did the troll come after you?" -She said rubbing his back before finally looking up and into the room. She covered her mouth trying not to throw up- "Oh gods! What…? Are those… giant needles? Harry! Did you come looking for the troll on purpose?!"

Harry walked back into the hallway and leaned his back against the wall; Neville and Hermione following right behind.

"I had to. I knew there was no other exit behind, so forward was the only way out"

"Argh! Harry Potter! Why on earth would you decide to fight an adult troll on your own!?" -Hermione screamed in anger.

"Nev didn't have a wand and I know how much of a nightmare the first one became to you" -He said with a strained smile.

Hermione stared at him in fury with tears beginning to trail down her cheeks. She slapped him across the face- "You gigantic dumbass! So instead of asking for help or coming up with a plan between all three of us, you sent us off into a wild goose chase while you face a mountain troll on your own?! Are you mental!? Why didn't you just wait for someone to come looking for us!?"

Harry raised a hand to his burning cheek- "Because… because I cannot allow myself to be expelled. I can take going back for one summer at a time, but not to be permanently cut off from this. Not now that I've met this kind of life. Not after meeting you" -He admitted with closed eyes.

Harry was momentarily startled when Hermione crushed him into a hug without uttering a word. She buried her face into his chest despite the splattered blood on him.

"You are so dense sometimes that you end up acting like an idiot" -She muttered into his chest- "I would have helped you if only you've asked. I would have helped you devise a plan not so reckless at the very least" -She looked up at him with tears welling up- "You are not the only one who found a precious new world. 'Cause I found you as well, you hear me?"

Hermione cupped his cheek and pulled him down into a kiss, intending to show how much she really cared. But Harry pulled away on the last second.

"No, wait! You don't wanna do that. Troll's blood tastes like shit and I've just puked, remember?"

"Oh, right" -She leaned in and kissed his cheek instead, but the troll's blood was still present there and she started to gag.

"Told ya" -Said Harry patting her back while Neville laughed at them not far off.

"You should scourgify your mouth, it'll wash away whatever is left" -Offered Neville in advice

Hermione did so without hesitation- "Thanks Nev. That thing does taste horrible"

Harry was tempted to do so as well, but he was still feeling strained from fighting off the troll and didn't want to risk a spell going bad inside of him. Hermione took notice of this- "Here, open up and let me" -She said doing the spell for him and repeating it once again across his face.

"Don't I get my kiss now?" -Harry joked.

Hermione cupped his cheek- "Only if you promise you won't put yourself in danger without letting me know first. And this time I want to hear you say it, unlike last time" -She said emphasizing the last part by pinching his cheek.

Harry chuckled- "Alright, I promise I'll let you know the next time I'm about to pull a daredevil stunt"

"Good" -She said before giving him a quick but passionate kiss- "But we better go now, I'd like to get out of this place someday"

"You and I, but first… Nev, would you mind making a smokescreen up ahead?" -Said Harry offering his wand.

"Uuhh… you know it's rather personal to borrow somebody else's wand, right? Besides, why would you want me to do that?" -Neville

"For once, I'm drained" -He joked before turning into a more somber tone- "And I'd rather not have a clear look at that bastard's dinner. They say ignorance is bliss after all"

"I can't argue with that" -Said Neville in an equally grim tone.

Neville went to the doorway and performed the spell. Nothing seemed out of place until for a moment, then Neville slumped forward.

"Neville!" -Hermione and Harry exclaimed and rushed towards their friend.

"What happened?" -Asked a worried Hermione helping him stand; while Harry scanned the newly formed and rather thick smokescreen for any threat.

"Harry's wand" -He said with a gasp- "It pulled on my magic more than I would have expected. How the hell can you use that everyday?"

Realizing that there was no threat at all, Harry snorted- "Not a clue, I barely know anything on wands. But I can only assume that you unintentionally overpowered the spell. I mean…" -He said running a hand into the smoke- "We could almost cut this smoke and serve it. It's so thick that it feels funny!"

"I'm glad you are amused by all this" -Moaned Neville

Hermione ran a curious hand through the smoke- "But he's right… it does feel weird to actually be able to feel it"

"Urgh, thanks for the support Hermione" -Neville groaned while gasping for air- "Can we take a short break? I know I don't have a wand but that the thing left me out of breath"

"Sure, it's not like we are on a clock anyway and I'm still rather spent as well" -Said Harry, before sitting on the floor by the hallway where the smoke wouldn't flood in- "Huh, you poured so much magic that you sort of caused a directional barrier"

They sat in silence for a while, long enough for Neville's breathing to even out.

"I think we can go now" -Said Neville- "I doubt I'll get much better without a pepper-up or a good rest"

"How are we gonna find our way to the other side?" -Asked Hermione- "We cannot dispel it and it's too thick to disperse"

"We better follow the wall" -Said Harry- "I think we have a clear path if we follow the left side"

Harry started leading the way over the left side of the wall, with Neville and Hermione following in tow. But a bad smell was growing stronger with each step, up to the point that they started gagging.

"I was wondering where all troll's dung was" -Complained Harry as he coughed.

"And you should, it makes a really good compost after all" -Said Neville.

Harry turned around in astonishment, perplexed when he realized that Neville wasn't even trying to cover his mouth- "How can you stand this stench?!... Oh, I forgot about the dragon dung. I'm also gonna guess that Hermione is using the bubble-head, right?"

"Yup" -Answered Hermione with a snicker from the back of the line, completely hidden by the smoke.

Harry snorted- "Thanks for the heads up you two"

All three of them kept going blindly until the next door, which Harry eagerly opened anxious for clear air.

"Oh come on!" -He complained- "Bloody thing already passed under the door! How much magic did you throw to make this much smoke?"

"I already told you it was your bloody wand's fault, it drained all I had" -Neville

Harry huffed- "I certainly hope it didn't leak this much into the next room or we'll end up going in blind"

They crossed the hallway and entered the next room. Harry cursed existence itself when he found smoke on the other side. Urging the other two to come through, he slowly closed the door shut and whispered- "Alright Hermione, try and see if you can disperse the smoke now"

"Allow me" -Said another voice.

Harry heard no whisper of a word as the smoke cleared out, rushing to the center of the room as if it were being sucked. Taking a quick glance around, he realized they were in another circular room. One a lot smaller than the troll's lair and way more cared after. A few circular steps surrounded a lower landing in the middle of the room, where a golden mirror stood in its center with Professor Quirrell standing in front.

"Professor, w-we -" –Neville.

"Silence!" -Quirrell commanded with an uncharacteristic steely voice. With a blind backswing of his wand, two consecutive spells connected with Neville's chest which sent him flying against the wall. He fell to the ground already unconscious and in chains.

"Neville!" -Hermione screamed and rushed to assist.

Harry for his part didn't dare to turn around, wary of the being they had presumed to be their professor- "What are you?" -Harry demanded, trying to sound more confident than he really was.

"What am I?" -He said in a credulous voice- "Oh such poor manners Mr. Potter. I thought you were raised to be better than that by your exemplary family" -Quirrell laughed perversely as he returned to inspect the mirror- "But oh, that would be rich... Don't tell me you actually bought into my act of the stuttering idiot?"

"With the kind of crap you've been teaching us, I can't really say it was hard to" -Replied Harry, faking confidence for whatever good it could do- "Now what kind of scum are you?"

Quirrell turned around in a swirl of motion throwing a quick spell to Harry's feet that disintegrated the stones in front of him- "Now don't get cocky boy, or you'll pay dearly for it. And you can drop the bravado, I know how little you know. But even if you had known the proper magics, you are no match to us!"

It was at that moment that Harry finally acknowledged that the stuttering fool who he had believed incapable of teaching was merely an act. The man who stood before him displayed the confidence and power he believed necessary to vanquish evil, such as he would expect from a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Albeit that this man had long ago lost his war against darkness, thus gaining his power. In fact, Harry realized that Quirrell's eyes momentarily burned red like embers; in a cruel promise of the terrible magic he was more than capable of unleashing.

"Harry, I can't manage to wake up Neville" -Hermione desperately cried behind him- "We have to go or-"

"SILENCE you filth! Imperio" -Quirrel snapped at her- "No one will be going anywhere, not unless I say so and I sincerely doubt any of you ever will"

"Yes master"

Harry listened to the droned answer of Hermione and he couldn't resist any longer, he tore his eyes away from Quirrell to look behind. For all he had tried to keep Quirrell occupied and focused on him, Neville laid broken and unmoving on the ground whereas Hermione stood abnormally still with a blank face.

"No…" -Harry's voice trembled- "No sweetie, you've got to fight it. Fight him! Cast him away from your mind!" -Tears ran freely. He had read some of the gross theory behind the unforgivables, so he knew that Hermione had to fight off the imperius from her own end if she was to escape unharmed- "Come on love! I can see that he hasn't submitted you yet! Fight it!"

Quirrell scoffed- "Oh, that's endearing. You think she's like that because I don't have her under my complete control? It's only because it's been awhile since my last time" -He said smugly- "Act normally girl"

It was as if a switch had been flipped. Hermione went from being a blank slate to her regular self, happy yet worried over some assignment. Despite how much he wanted to deny it, Harry would have been hard pressed to notice a difference from any other day. But like this? It wasn't hard to tell that her demeanor was at odds with the situation.

"Release her!" -He demanded with all his magic bubbling and burning inside. Quirrell irradiated nothing but perverse amusement at the situation. The evident dismissal caused Harry to snap- "Diffindo!"

Despite how he felt the magic rushing from him, fueling his severing charm out of anger and desperation; the spell didn't accomplish anything but annoy Quirrell as he effortlessly parried it away.

"Now boy, not even attending to that barbaric mockery of dueling did you learn to pick opponents of your own level. Let's try and rectify that, it would hardly be a challenge if I took you on my own"

Quirrell's focus seemed to momentarily shift and Harry soon realized why. A spell landed next to his feet, coming from behind.

"I'll be your opponent for today, love" -Said Hermione as if nothing were wrong.

"No, no, no… you BASTARD! Leave her out of this" -Shouted Harry while walking away from her, circling around the room.

"Oh come on Harry; let's just play for a bit!" -She said nibbling her left index- "I'll tell you what, I'll go first and you can follow. Depulso"

The banishing charm was off target, shooting past Harry and blasting a considerable size of the wall behind him.

Hermione hummed- "I better be careful or there will be nothing left of you for my master. And he does need you after I teach you a thing or two. But it's your turn! So go on, cast away. I promise I won't bite… much" -She said with an unnatural sultry smile.

"No… no I can't! Hermione snap out of it! Fight him back!" -Harry cried out loud- "I can't hurt you, please!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk" -She said shaking her head- "You are gonna make me force it out of you, are you not? Diffindo"

The cutting charm nicked him in the arm, shredding that side of his robes without causing more than a shallow cut.

Harry stopped walking- "See? You don't wanna hurt me either" -He pleaded with tears in his eyes- "Please, you have to break free"

"Oh love, you can be so stubborn sometimes" –Hermione said with a giggle- "But let's try something more… personal" -Said narrowing her eyes and aiming to his groin- "Diffindo"

Harry couldn't help but flinch this time, as he felt the spell cutting his inner thigh slightly below his boxers.

"Huh… I would have expected that famous Boy Who Lived to carry more of a… package" -She said with a teasing smile.

Harry put away his wand in his wrist-holster and walked slowly towards her- "No, you didn't" -He spoke shaking his head- "You never really saw me that way. And it's just that… you are still you. And you wouldn't allow him to make you hurt me"

"So not only stubborn, but also naive. Is this the champion of fate who was capable of besting my master?" -Hermione said with disdain.

"No love, I'm no one else's but your champion. So come on, push him out from you. Let me help you"

"Not a step closer" -She grumbled, pressing the tip of her wand against his brow- "I know you are probably the key for that wretched mirror, but we could always try first with your unconscious body. Stupe-"

Harry didn't give her the time to finish the incantation. In a swirl of motion, he pushed her wand arm away from him as he took a step aside. He grabbed her by the wrist and struck her arm with a fist, hard enough for her to drop her wand. Letting go of her arm, he stepped behind her and proceeded to lock her in the best choke hold he could manage.

"Let me- go" -She said gasping for air.

"I can't… not until you break free" -Harry whispered from behind, tears running freely.

Hermione struggled against him for a few moments, but her lack of training and oxygen soon did its job. Her strength started to wane and it didn't take much longer for her to fall unconscious- "Thanks" -She softly whispered before her body went limp.

Quirrell burst into a maniacal laughter accompanied by a mocking applause- "Impressive. Seems that despite all of my efforts, you know better than to risk the magical backlash she could have suffered from the Imperio"

Harry watched her unconscious face for a moment, before gently lowering her to the ground with her back resting against the wall- "Why? Why are you doing all this?" -He turned to stare at his former professor with burning fury- "What could you possibly intend to gain from a mirror? Would you at least grant me that much Quirrell?!"

"What?" -Quirrell was momentarily perplexed, but he only needed a second for a new glint of madness shine in his eyes- "Oh I can see now… so Dumbledore's once more about to pay the steepest price for all of his secrecy and machinations"

'Dumbledore? Why…? Could he have known all along?'

"Indeed Potter boy, you've been attending classes with your personal devil in a sheep's skin" -He said calm and collected, buy in an utterly perverse way.

Quirrell casted two quick and silent spells at him. Harry cursed himself for being caught off guard, having been too expectant of finally getting some answers.

"Interesting… I've been half afraid that whatever magic had the filth of your mother employed to protect you would still be in place" -He said levitating Harry's paralyzed and binded body towards him- "I'd rather have you awake for the next part, unlike my little slave expressed herself"

Quirrell levitated his body in front of the mirror, before casting a second spell for Harry to move his head- "Now, tell me-"

"Why? Why are you doing this?" -Grumbled Harry.

"Uncover me" -Rumbled a sinister voice.

Harry was taken by surprise, having believed that they were alone. Greater was his shock when Quirrell undid his turban, tied it across his waist and proceeded to unrobe his torso.

Quirrell's chest appeared to be suffering from decay. Black veins originated over his heart, spreading towards the rest of his body beyond the current halo of rot. Suddenly, two scorching eyes opened over the centre of it all and stared at him with hatred.

"This is why" -Spoke the sinister voice, coming from a mouth on the rotten flesh filled with corrupted blood- "Because this kind of existence is unfit for the great Lord Voldemort!"

Harry was horrified at the discovery. The one reason he had lost it all, one who was presumably dead… still roamed the earth.

"Now gaze into the mirror and tell me where the Philosopher's Stone is!" -Rumbled Voldemort as Quirrell approached him and forced his face to look into the mirror.

"Argh" -Quirrell complained, but Harry was no longer paying attention.

He felt entranced by the magic woven into the mirror, enough to not even react in surprise when his reflection started to move of its own accord. With barely a strain his reflection broke free of its bindings and proceeded to stretch his back and limbs. He hopped a few times in place and grinned back at Harry. He pulled a shiny ruby from his pockets and showcased it around before putting it in his mouth and swallowing it. His reflection made a pantomime of belching before bowing to an invisible public and disappeared. The reflection turned back to reality itself as Harry suddenly felt something unsettling his stomach.

Everything had apparently happened in the fraction of a second, because it was just then that Quirrell was pulling his hand away from him. He tried to shake of whatever had stung him before pausing to take a look at his hand- "Aaa! Master! What is happening?"

"The curse still protects him!" -Voldemort roared- "But the boy has the stone! Quick you worm, disembowel the pest!"

Realizing that he was no longer paralyzed and his bindings were cut loose as they had in the mirror, he jumped aside as a yellow curse sped towards where he stood. Unluckily, the curse impacted on the mirror causing its magic to collapse and explode. The blast launched him against the outer steps as plenty of shards proceeded to embed in his back.

Harry pushed himself to focus on the fight and ignore the pain. He glanced back, bracing himself for an oncoming spell, but stood staring as Quirrell's arm burned to cinders. It was slowly but surely climbing up his arm. Quirrell screamed in pain as he tried everything he knew to stop it from spreading, but nothing really worked. It was already past his elbow when he ran out of options: pointing his wand at the joint of his shoulder, he severed his arm from his body. It fell with a thud, causing it's already burnt parts to come undone as ashes while the curse continued to burn the rest of the limb.

"Now you fool! Get the boy so I can regain my own body!" -Voldemort demanded.

"But wh-" -Quirrell

"NOW!" -Voldemort

Harry got back to his feet careful of not driving any glass further into his body. He tried to raise his wand to cast but a shard in the back of his upper arm forced him to let it go limp instead. Quirrell raised his own wand towards him and Harry knew he was doomed. Harry glanced behind him, finding Hermione still unmoving against the wall with plenty of glass shards across her robes and blood trailing from a cut on her cheek. Looking back, Quirrell's wand began to shine as his magic gathered before being released, but at the last second he flinched and the spell went astray.

"ARGH!" -Quirrell screamed in pain, letting go of his wand to hold the stump of his shoulder.

Harry caught a glimpse of the fallen arm, which had turned to completely ashen by now. Looking back to Quirrell, he realized that the curse consuming him from within was still going rampant.

"You pathetic fool! How could you ruin this!?" -Voldemort roared in anger- "Enjoy your demise then!"

A shadow started to flow from the mouth on Quirrell's chest and he went stiff as if he had been crucified. Faster than the burn spreading from his shoulder, the decay and rot consumed his body as more and more of the shadow flowed out, becoming a murky yet floating darkness by the end of it.

Quirrell's rotten body fell to the ground as the curse continued to burn it away, while the darkness floated in place. The same two scorching eyes opened in its midst, before Voldemort's voice resonated within the room- "You will pay for this!" -It grumbled with absolute hatred.

It sped towards the ceiling, but before it could completely disappear a wisp of dark spectre separated from the whole and rushed towards Harry. He didn't have time to react before it went through his stomach, heating up in the process and rushing into his forehead.

Harry felt a sudden rush of rage as his vision tinted with red, before everything became too much for him and fainted.

* * *

%%%

Harry woke up in soft sheets impregnated with the smell of sanitizer. He stirred and groaned in pain, not from his body but from his head. Regardless of it, he tried to sit on his bed as he opened his eyes only to be blinded by the intense whiteness of the infirmary. He could listen to hurried steps from Poppy's office as someone approached.

"Easy, easy Harry" -Soothed Poppy as she gently forced him to lay back- "Where does it hurt?"

"H-head" -Groaned Harry as he pressed a hand against his forehead desperate to ease the pain.

"Anywhere else?" -Poppy

"Can't tell. My head is killing me" -He groaned again.

"Okay, let me bring you something"

It probably took only a moment for Poppy to retrieve the potion from her office and just a few minutes for it to take effect. But to Harry, it all seemed to prolong for ages due to the pounding headache he had. It had felt as if his mind would shatter from the pressure he was feeling inside, regardless of his modest skill in Occlumency.

Once the pain started to fade, he opened his eyes to find Poppy standing by his side with a contemplative expression- "Are you feeling better?" -She asked to which he nodded- "I see… were you under the Imperius at any given moment?"

"Not that I know off, why?" -Asked Harry.

"Because-"

Poppy was interrupted by the infirmary main door being opened. Immediately followed by the clang of a metal tray falling to the floor along the shattering of plates with food. Without a single care for the mess, Tonks barreled across the infirmary in order to crash him into a hug- "Harry! Thank Merlin you are okay"

Harry patted her back, but it only served for her to tighten her embrace- "N-Nym! Let-go" -He pleaded grasping for breath.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Are you hurt? What happened?!" -Tonks exclaimed

"I'm mostly fine, but we were just going over why Poppy suspects the Imperius" -He said turning to look at her.

Poppy opted for raising an eyebrow at Nym instead of explaining- "The compromise with you Ms. Tonks being here was to assist me and care for them. Not making a mess of my floor and strangling said patients"

"S-sorry Poppy. I promise I'll clean up, but I want to hear his condition first… please?" -Nym pleaded with enlarged puppy eyes.

"Tsk, fine" -Said Poppy shaking her head- "For starters, Harry is physically fine. He had nothing beyond the bruising and cuts you and I healed soon after they arrived. His magical core was slightly overcharged, quite the contrast considering Mr Longbottom suffered magical exhaustion and Ms Granger was on the brink from it" -She paused for a moment, seemingly considering things over once more. Poppy picked the empty phial of his latest potion- "However, his mind was considerably overloaded when Harry regained consciousness and quite possibly about to shatter. I administered him with a potion designed to help recover from an Imperius backlash and it has apparently worked…" -She explained trailing into her thoughts.

After a moment of silence, Nym spoke- "Doesn't that mean he was under the Imperius before it was forcefully interrupted? Shouldn't we be looking for someone with the same symptoms? Like… whoever we find with the lesser backlash will probably be who attacked all three of them and put Harry under the Imperius"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" -Asked Harry

"Weren't the three of you ambushed?" -Asked Nym

"Umm… not quite so. We were checking out the Trials when-"

"Hold on a moment a Harry" -Poppy interrupted him, before speaking to the infirmary at large- "Tiggy, would you please summon Minerva as well as the headmaster? We may save Harry some repetition that way"

"Yes Ms Poppy" -A disembodied voice replied from over one corner before they heard the popping noise of a house elf apparating.

"Hey! Why did you send me to fetch our food if we had an elf around?" -Complained Nym

Poppy turned to smirk at her- "So you wouldn't drive the both of us insane with worry. I thought that a walk across the castle might help you clear your mind"

Nym huffed and Harry chuckled at that, as they waited for Minerva and Dumbledore so Harry could tell his story.

* * *

 **.%%%**

* * *

A/N 01:


End file.
